The Story Retold
by DoctorH
Summary: After the War, an historian seeks to tell accurately the full story of the Caine Mutiny. What were the trial tactics? How could Keefer's testimony have been MUCH worse? Why did Queeg fondle steel balls? Would Admiral Halsey have intervened if asked? How serious was the Yellowstain incident? Did the prosecution's OWN witnesses sink the case? And... who REALLY took the strawberries?
1. Talk with a Best Friend

PROLOGUE

What follows is an original story based primarily upon the 1954 movie, "The _Caine_ Mutiny."

Some incidents in this story are taken not from the movie, but from the novel on which the movie is based. In the novel, for example, Willie Keith was "The Demerit King" at Midshipman School. After the trial, Keith went on to become the final captain of the _Caine_ , and it was during his command that the _Caine_ was struck and seriously damaged by a kamikaze. (Actually, in the novel, the ship was attacked by two kamikazes on separate occasions.)

Some elements of the novel appear in the movie, but in altered form. In the novel, for example, was a character named Urban. It was Urban who had his shirttail out, and it was Urban who testified to being scared during the typhoon. But Urban was basically absent in the movie, and his actions and attributes were assigned to multiple other characters.

The novel makes it clear that the Yellowstain incident occurred at Kwajalein, at a particular site; but Kwajalein is not mentioned by name in the movie.

The movie and the novel are different in many other ways as well. Both versions of the story have their strong points. In many ways, the writing of the movie is sharper and more dramatic. The acting in the movie was exceptional for its time; for many actors, this movie showcases their best performances of their careers.

It seems likely to me that there are many elements of the movie, some not present in the novel, that were deliberately put into the movie by the director or the writer, perhaps to try to suggest things happened in a particular way or that there is something unusual going on behind the scene. This story calls out some of those elements, and imagines what the significance of those elements might be.

By the same token, some elements of the novel, including some incidents that made Queeg look quite evil, were omitted from the movie. This too seems to me to be deliberate; the movie suggests that it is not so clear-cut that Queeg is a bad man.

Those familiar with the movie will realize that some of what is in this story is from the movie, and some of it is extrapolated from the movie. Some of it is based on the novel. And some of it is just made up. I leave it to the reader to identify which parts are which.

This story does _not_ avoid one of the problems with the movie, namely, that Humphrey Bogart was too old to play Captain Queeg.

The name of the writer in my story, Mark Neuhow, is a name with multiple meanings. He listened to people tell their stories (he would "mark" them), and so he was aware of what other witnesses to the events said (he "knew how" they told their stories). But this name is also an anagram, which someone clever would be bound to discover.

Nearly every incident from the book and the movie is reported from memory. There is a certain benefit to this, in that the characters in the story tell their tales from memory, and their memories (like mine) might be incorrect. Even so, in the event any serious errors have been made, they may be addressed in due course.

One tale in the story, that pertaining to the machine gun, has a basis in fact, and was related to me by a stenographer who recorded courts martial during WWII.

* * *

1\. Talk with a Best Friend.

Steve Maryk was finishing his dinner— leftover fried chicken— when his telephone rang. Maryk's hands were greasy. Without thinking, he dropped what remained of a chicken leg on his plate and wiped his hands on his trousers before reaching for the telephone receiver. He uttered a mild expletive upon realizing what he'd just done, then picked up the receiver and hoisted it to his right ear.

Maryk tried to sound calm. "Hello."

"Hi Steve, it's Willie Keith."

Maryk's sour mood brightened at once. "Hey! Willie! How are you?"

"I'm fine, Steve, how are you doing?"

"Pretty well, I think."

"Hope I didn't catch you during dinner."

"Don't worry about it. What's up?

"How's Newark?"

"I'm getting along. Not too many complaints, except for the noise at night. How's Princeton?"

"About the same. Maybe I'm getting old, but the students at the university look like a bunch of kids to me."

Maryk laughed. "That's because they _are_ a bunch of kids! Hey, Willie, you heard I started that position as a dispatcher, right?"

"Yeah, you mentioned a couple of months ago that you had the job lined up. How's it working out? Do you like the job?"

"I do, I do like it. The people are nice, my boss is appreciative of what I do."

"Well, that's good, that's great, actually!"

"How's May?"

"She's doing all right. I've told you she's expecting next August, haven't I?"

"Yeah, you did. Congratulations again. Be sure to give her my best."

"I will. Hey, Steve," Keith cleared his throat, "the reason I'm calling, I wanted to ask you something. Have you gotten any telephone calls or letters recently from this guy who claims to be a writer from San Diego?"

The joy drained from Maryk's voice. "No telephone calls, no. But I got a couple of letters from some guy this month, last month, too. His name was Neuhow, I think. He said he was a writer, said he was working on a book about the _Caine_. I threw the letters away. Is that the guy you're talking about?"

"Yeah, that's the guy, Neuhow. I got a letter from him a few weeks ago. I wrote back to him and told him that I didn't want to talk about the _Caine_. And that's pretty much all I wrote, 'Dear Mr. Neuhow, thank you for your inquiry, I don't want to talk about the _Caine,_ Willis S. Keith.'"

"That's exactly how I feel," Maryk sighed. "Better that the whole business be forgotten. Why anybody'd want to write a book about the _Caine_ , I have no idea. I can't imagine the Navy would want to have the tale told."

"Well, Steve, this Neuhow has stopped writing to me, and has taken to calling me on the telephone, long distance. He says he's coming to New Jersey to meet me. And, Steve, he wants to meet you, too."

Maryk was temporarily speechless. "No dice," he said eventually.

"You know, I told him that's what you'd say, exactly," Willie snickered nervously. "But, Steve, he's very persistent. Persistent, but polite, too. And Steve, I get the sense that this guy..." Keith paused.

"You get a sense this guy, what?"

"That he wants to tell the _Caine_ story _fairly_."

Maryk snorted. "That'll be the day! Everybody else who's told the story has made it all about Steve Maryk being one lucky bastard who ought to have been strung up from the yardarm."

"I know. They also say that Willie Keith ought to be swinging right next to him. Steve, listen. This Neuhow says he's talked to most of the main witnesses to the _Caine_ events."

"I doubt that."

"That's what he told me, swear to God; he also says the only really important people he hasn't had a chance to talk to... are us. There's something about the way he talks, too. He's very matter-of-fact, you know? No nonsense."

Maryk thought he detected something in Keith's voice, something troubling. Maryk had resolved that he would never tell his story, not even to friends and family, and certainly not to any writer who might divulge the unpleasant tale to the world. Maryk had been fairly certain that Keith felt the same way. But there was something in Keith's tone, something that suggested that Keith had been giving serious consideration to the unthinkable. Maryk decided to find out for sure; so he asked, point-blank: "Did you agree you'd talk to him, Willie?"

Keith didn't respond right away, so Maryk guessed the answer before being told.

"Yes, I did," Keith admitted. "Or rather, what I told him was that I would agree to meet with him in person, and that I would listen to what he had to say. I didn't exactly promise to tell him anything."

"Jesus, Willie."

"Steve," Keith's voice took on a note of pleading, "I want to ask you something. I want you to talk to him _with me_. I promised him I'd ask you."

Maryk rubbed his eyes. "Willie, for the love of heaven."

"Look, he's coming here, to New Jersey, by train, at his own expense. I mean, after he's spent all that time and all that money to come here, I just don't think I could tell him to shove off."

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Willie."

"He wants to meet us both. I think he's on the level. Come on, Steve. If you meet the guy and find that you don't want to talk to him, you and I will tell him we don't want to talk. We'll tell him together."

Maryk sighed. He took a deep breath and sighed again. Willie Keith was one of his his best friends. How could he tell him no?

"What we do, we do _together_ , Steve," Keith prompted.

Maryk saw no easy way out. "Okay, Willie," Maryk relented. "Chances are, I'm just going to tell him that he wasted his time and money coming out here; but okay, Willie, you and me, we'll meet him together."

"Thanks, Steve."

"Yeah." Maryk sighed. "I suppose I'll have to ask for some time off work, and I'll have to find a way to get down to see you in Princeton. Maybe I'll take a bus, I guess."

"No, you won't. Neuhow told me he isn't coming to Princeton, he's coming to Newark."

For a moment, Maryk was speechless once again. "You mean, he's coming to _me_? Not to where you are, but to where _I_ am?"

"Well, yeah. What he told me was that his train went to Newark, and he asked me if I could meet him in Newark. I said sure, I could come up to Newark. He told me he's reserved a room at the Prism Hotel, and he'll be there on Thursday night. He wants to meet with the two of us on Friday morning. Room 518, he said."

Maryk was immediately suspicious. "Willie, the Prism Hotel is only five blocks from where I live. That can't be a coincidence, that this guy gets a room at the hotel that's probably the one that's closest to me. Did you tell him about the Prism?"

"No, I didn't. He told _me_ that he had a reservation there. But I'll bet you you're right, Steve, it isn't a coincidence at all. I'll bet he _really_ wants to talk to us, and I think he's going the extra mile to make it convenient for you. I think he wants to get on your good side."

"Willie, whether it's convenient or not, I just can't see him on Friday. I have to be at work at eleven."

"Well, I told him I could catch a train and meet him at nine. Could you meet him with me at nine in the morning?"

Maryk snickered, "Do you think he'd be able to interview me in an hour's time?"

"He told me he's staying until Monday. You don't work weekends, do you, Steve?"

Maryk moaned. "No, I don't work on weekends, but I sure don't want to spend my Saturday or Sunday talking about the _Caine_." Maryk took as deep breath. "Listen, Willie, here's what I'll do: I'll go with you to meet this guy on Friday morning. And I'll make it clear that I can't stay long, I have to go to work. But I'll listen to what he has to say."

"Okay. Okay, that's fine, Steve. Let's give him an hour to try to convince us to tell our stories, and if he doesn't convince us..."

"Which I'm pretty sure he won't."

"... Then we can say thanks and so long."

" _We_ say that," Maryk repeated.

"Yes, we. Either we both decide to share our stories or we both don't."


	2. The Prism

2\. The Prism.

On a blustery Friday morning in mid-April, Steve Maryk stood outside the Prism Hotel in Newark, New Jersey. Maryk wore a warm sweater and work trousers.

Maryk checked his watch. 8:45. He thought Willie would be here by now. Willie's train should have arrived more than half an hour ago.

At 8:49, a taxi rolled up to the front of the hotel. The driver bounded from the front seat, and Willie Keith exited from the back seat. Keith, like Maryk, had opted to forego the suit and tie, preferring instead to dress casually. The driver opened the trunk and pulled out Keith's suitcase, and deftly set it by the curb. Keith gave the driver a stack of bills and told him to keep the change. Maryk had no idea how much money Keith had just handed over, but the delighted expression on the driver's face was hard to miss. Keith promptly turned to Maryk and extended his hand. Maryk took Keith's hand and the two men greeted each other enthusiastically.

They exchanged brief pleasantries, with each man remarking that the other looked well. Keith explaining that his train was delayed and that he had been afraid he'd be late, but the cab driver had shown some speed and got him to the Prism Hotel on time.

Maryk and Keith men entered the hotel, one at a time, through the revolving doors. Just past the front desk, an elevator decorated in polished brass awaited them with open doors, and a gray-haired operator bid them good morning and courteously asked them for their floors.

"Fifth floor, please," Maryk responded.

"Fifth floor for me as well, please," Keith added.

At nine a.m. sharp, the men knocked on the door of room 518.

The door opened at once. Greeting them was a tall, lanky man, dressed in a charcoal suit, white shirt, a dark tie, and shining black shoes. He was clean shaven, with black hair parted on the left, and black-rimmed glasses mounted on his nose.

Maryk thought he looked more like an undertaker than a writer.

The man extended his hand first to Maryk.

"Mr. Maryk, I'm Mark Neuhow." Neuhow's grip was strong, professional. "I'm _deeply_ pleased to meet you."

"Steve Maryk," Maryk said in courteous reply. "Nice to meet you."

Neuhow extended his hand to Keith. "Mr. Keith, it is a great pleasure to meet you in person."

"Likewise," Keith said.

"Gentlemen, please come in and please be seated." Neuhow fixed a do-not-disturb notice to the exterior of his room door, then closed the door. "May I get you anything to drink? I have chilled water here. If you'd like something else, I can call room service."

"No, thanks," Maryk and Keith replied in unison, as they seated themselves in separate stuffed sitting chairs.

Maryk took a look around the room. Neuhow actually was set up in a modest suite, plush but not overly luxurious. The main window offered a view of part of the Manhattan skyline. In addition to the sitting chairs, the suite was furnished with a sofa, a table, and three small wooden chairs. Neuhow had turned the table into a desk, with a typewriter, various supplies, and several neatly stacked sheets of white paper nearby. Also on the table was a small stack of books.

Everything in the room was orderly. Clothing hung neatly in the closet. The bed was made perfectly. Since it was certainly too early in the morning for the hotel maids to have made their rounds, Mayrk surmised that Neuhow had made his bed himself.

Maryk was somewhat surprised to see what appeared to be half a dozen suitcases lined up against a wall. He wondered why a man would travel with so many suitcases, but he decided not to raise that subject.

"This is my first visit to Newark," Neuhow said, as he retrieved a notepad and pencil. "How do you like Newark, Mr. Maryk?"

"I like it fine," Maryk said.

When it seemed clear that Maryk was not going to expand on his answer, Neuhow tried to start the conversation again. "I was in Washington DC two weeks ago, and last week I was in Boston. After Newark, I'm planning to return home to San Diego."

Maryk wasn't in much of a mood to chat, so he decided to get to the point. "Mr. Neuhow, I realize you spent a lot of time and money coming here, but I feel I have to tell you that you are wasting your time if you think I'm going to talk to you about the _Caine_."

Neuhow seemed genuinely shocked. "Oh?" He gently seated himself on the sofa, where he could face Maryk and Keith.

"It's not a time in my life that I'd like to talk about. I'm sure you understand."

Neuhow nodded sympathetically. "I do understand. Many others felt as you do, at least at first."

"Others?"

"Yes. I've spoken with quite a few people about the events. Many of them were reluctant to speak at first."

"Who have you spoken to?"

Keith piped up: "Have you spoken to Barney Greenwald?"

Neuhow's face seemed for a moment to be pained. Then he smiled kindly. "Yes, I've spoken with Barney." Neuhow leaned forward to be closer to Maryk and Keith. It was Neuhow's turn to get to the point. "If I may, gentlemen, I'd prefer to reserve for a later time a discussion as to which other individuals may have spoken with me. Instead, gentlemen, here is what I propose to do. I will tell you, Mr. Maryk and Mr. Keith, who I am, what I wish to accomplish, and how I wish to go about accomplishing it. After I tell you what I wish to accomplish, I will ask you for your assistance. You may choose to assist me, or not." Neuhow paused. Then he looked each man in the eyes as he added, "I will accept your decision, whatever it may be. But I am sincerely hoping you will say yes."

Maryk thought the prospects of them saying yes were remote, but kept his peace.

"Let me first tell you both about myself," Neuhow began. "I live in San Diego, California. I'm an author. I specialize in United States naval history."

"We knew an author on board the _Caine_ ," Keith volunteered.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Tom Keefer. He writes fiction. I, of course, specialize in writing _non_ -fiction." Neuhow took two books from the stack on the table, handing one to Maryk and the other to Keith. The men took the books without opening them. "This is my most recent work," Neuhow explained. "Not to boast, but I am pleased to report that I have received a very good response to this work."

Keith hefted the book and looked at the title, which gave Keith little hint as to its subject. "'A Game of Chess in the South Pacific.' What's this book about?"

"This work, Mr. Keith, pertains to the campaign at Guadalcanal, focusing upon certain events and tactics prior to the landing in August of 1942."

Maryk raised his eyebrows. "You know, the _Caine_ played a role at Guadalcanal."

Neuhow smiled pleasantly. "Yes, I know. The _Caine_ made her contribution after most of the incidents described in this book, however, and I'm afraid the _Caine_ doesn't even get a single mention."

"You say you've written other books?" Keith asked, while thumbing idly through the volume in his hands.

"Yes. I have also written about the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Not the attack itself; events that occurred in the days following."

"I can't say that I've read any of your books," Maryk commented, as he tried to hand the book back to Neuhow.

Neuhow held up his hand with the palm toward Maryk, to signal a refusal to take back the book. "Please, keep the book, Mr. Maryk, as my gift to you. Mr. Keith, please keep your copy as my gift. I sincerely hope, gentlemen, that you will have an opportunity to look through this book, so you can see for yourselves how I write about historical events."

"Thanks," Maryk and Keith replied unenthusiastically in unison.

"You may be interested in the first foreword in that book," Neuhow prompted.

Maryk did not open his book, but Keith opened his. After a few seconds, Keith's mouth fell open.

"Admiral Nimitz!?" Keith exclaimed. "Admiral Chester Nimitz wrote your foreword?"

Keith was quite clearly impressed. in spite of himself, Maryk found himself being impressed as well.

"Yes, Admiral Nimitz was kind enough to write a few words for me. You'll notice that he mentions that he found my work to be readable and thorough and even-handed. Gentlemen, I point that passage out to you for a very special reason. You might be tempted to think that Admiral Nimitz wrote these kind words for me because I polished the image of the United States Navy and made him look good as well. But that is not so. This book discusses some missteps made by the Navy, and some questionable decisions or lapses in judgment by the Admiral and his people in particular. Even though I presented an image of the Admiral that was less than flattering, he agreed to write a foreword for me, because, he said, I was accurate in what I wrote, and I was fair. I might add that I had to secure the permission of the United States Navy as well, and the Navy agreed that what I wrote was fair and accurate."

Maryk spoke slowly. "So you're telling us, you'll be fair and accurate in telling the story about the _Caine_?"

"That is my pledge, yes, sir, Mr. Maryk. I needed the assistance of the Navy to find all of the people who knew about the _Caine_. The Navy agreed to help me because Admiral Nimitz made a request on my behalf, and said I'd do a good job."

There was no sarcasm in Maryk's voice when he said, "And we're supposed to think that, if the Navy did this favor for you, you won't repay the Navy by making the Navy look good and us look guilty?"

Neuhow smiled a little. "Remember, the Navy acquitted you. If I make _you_ look guilty, that means the Navy looks bad. It means the Navy failed to punish a very serious offender."

Maryk had never looked at it that way before. He wondered whether Neuhow might be saying that he would give voice to Maryk's point of view, something that those critical of Maryk's actions seemed unwilling to do.

Neuhow stayed quiet for a few seconds to let his point sink in, then went on. "If you read my works, you'll see that I don't try to make anyone look bad or good. You may have heard it said that 'history is written by the winners.' I believe in my heart that that adage is obsolete. The paradigm has changed. I believe that modern true historians don't want to placate the winners, they don't want to stroke the egos of the powers that be. I believe that true historians, more than anything, want to be _right_. And they want to be right even if the powers that be earnestly wish the facts were different than they are."

Maryk and Keith looked at one another.

"Real historians record things for the sake of history. As you know, the United States Navy has made a number of errors or committed a number of questionable steps in its past. The Navy is generally of the view that, if mistakes were made, it is better to recognize them and to fix them, than to hide them and to pretend they didn't happen. I know that some authors have written about the two of you, and that they thought your conduct deserved harsh punishment. But those who say you got away with a crime quite clearly _don't know all the facts_. And the Navy admits that _it_ doesn't know all of the facts, either; but the Navy also knows that causes-and-effects aren't always clear-cut. The Navy isn't looking to lay blame, gentlemen. The Navy just wants to know why what happened did happen. It's my job to tell the story, to the best of my ability. And I want to be _right_."

There followed about ten seconds of silence.

Maryk wondered whether Neuhow had practiced this speech. He thought it was a darn good pitch.

"Let me tell you how I work," Neuhow continued. "I propose first to meet with you in two stages. In the first stage, I meet with each of you, one at a time. In the second stage, I meet with the two of you together. Each individual meeting will last about a day, I expect. When I meet with you individually, I will go out of my way _not_ to indicate to you what I think your answers ought to be. I want you to tell me what you recall, as best you can recall it. And I don't want to be accused of putting any words into your mouths. During these one-to-one meetings, I will ask questions, but I will not be inclined to answer any questions _from_ you. Naturally, if you feel one of my questions is vague, I encourage you to ask for clarification. But as a general rule, I'll put questions to you, and record your answers in shorthand."

"So we'll do most of the talking?" Keith asked.

"During the first stage, yes."

"What's the purpose of the second stage, where we all meet together?"

Neuhow smiled. "In every historical investigation, the witnesses always disagree about some things. I use the second stage to try to resolve any major differences in stories as to what happened, or when, or in what order. I also welcome questions from you to me. I've found that discussions of this kind may prompt recollection of additional events and/or clarification of previous parts of stories."

This struck Maryk as making a lot of sense, but he wanted to be certain he'd understood. "In the first stage, you want us to tell our stories, without knowing what anyone else has said; but in the second stage, we get to comment on what other people have told you?"

Neuhow nodded. "I've found that two-stage technique works very well. For me, that is."

"You're saying," Maryk pressed, "that you'll let us tell our stories the way that _we think_ they ought to be told?"

"Exactly right."

Keith could see Maryk was intrigued, and that he might be softening to the notion of giving an interview. Keith turned to Neuhow. "Mr. Neuhow, if we decide not to tell our stories to you, would you still be willing to share with us what others have said?"

"No." Neuhow was stone-faced. "As far as I'm concerned, it's my two-stage system or nothing. If you're going to talk to me, it must be because you _want_ to talk to me, not because you want to take issue with someone else's account. If you decide not to speak with me, and you still want to know what others have said, I'm afraid you'll just have to buy my book to find out. It ought to be available in time for Christmas." Neuhow suddenly broke into a modest grin. "I think I can guarantee, gentlemen, that if you agree to tell me your stories, the way you think they ought to be told, you will find stage two to be a most enlightening experience; but that is all I'm going to say."

Maryk still had some reservations. He squinted. "Have you read the trial transcript, Mr. Neuhow?"

"Every word of testimony. Every exhibit, too."

"I don't want to be in the position where I tell you one thing, and then your book says that I told a completely different story at the trial. That would make me look like a liar."

"That's not how I work. If I note a discrepancy between what you said from the witness stand and what you tell me, I'll ask you to try to help me resolve it. Remember: I don't want to tell tales to make anyone look good or look bad; more than anything, I want to be _right_."

Keith noticed that Maryk was actually nodding subtly. He wondered whether Maryk was even aware of it. "What do you think, Steve?"

Maryk looked at Keith. "I don't know. What do you think, Willie?"

Keith took a breath. "Every other story I've read about the _Caine_ has tried to make you and me out to be a couple of boneheads. Not a one of them suggested for a moment that we had any good reasons to do what we did."

Maryk snickered. He knew that what Keith said was true.

Keith went on: "I know there are other stories out there besides mine. I know not everybody agrees with my version of the events. But I'm not sure I want this to be another situation in which other people get their say, and I don't. Mr. Neuhow says he talked to Barney Greenwald, and that suggests to me that our side is going to be heard. What I'm saying is, Steve, I think ... I want to tell my story. "

Maryk nodded, no longer subtly. "So do I." He faced Neuhow. "Mr. Neuhow, you sold me. Who do you want to talk to first?"


	3. The First Stage

3\. The First Stage

Keith told his story first.

It worked out best that way. Maryk had to be at work by eleven o'clock, but Keith could stay and tell Neuhow his version of the events. On Saturday, Keith thought he could easily find some way to occupy his time. Maybe he'd take a little walking tour of New York City. Then he would return on Sunday, and meet with Maryk and Neuhow.

Maryk didn't work on Saturday or Sunday, so it was convenient for Maryk to meet with Neuhow one-on-one on Saturday. Then Keith and Maryk together would meet with Neuhow on Sunday. All three men agreed that they would skip church services that Sunday and make it right the following Sunday. Neuhow remarked that, considering the circumstances and the historic nature of the meeting, he felt the Lord would understand.

After this schedule was agreed upon, Maryk left to go to work. He shook Neuhow's hand. "I will see you early Sunday morning, Mr. Neuhow."

"See you Sunday."

Keith and Neuhow began their work at about 10:30. Before sitting down to talk, Neuhow removed his suit jacket and tie, and hung them neatly in his closet. Neuhow retrived a pad and pencil, and made himself comfortable in a chair facing Keith.

Neuhow's first question was: "Tell me about your first day aboard the _Caine_ , Mr. Keith." The conversation proceeded from there.

Around noon, Neuhow ordered some sandwiches and coffee to be brought to the room, and he and Keith worked through lunch.

Neuhow was true to his word: he asked no questions in which he prompted Keith what to say. Neuhow's questions tended to be of the form, "What happened next?" And "What was your reaction, if any?" He took notes in shorthand. Keith noticed that Neuhow was left-handed, and that he wrote in what seemed be be an awkward posture. There was little question in Keith's mind about Neuhow's talent, however; on several occasions, Neuhow read back something Keith had said earlier, and Neuhow read Keith's words verbatim. There was not a single instance in which Keith thought that Neuhow's notes had been inaccurate.

There were some occasions where Keith told stories about the same events, but the stories did not match. If there was a discrepancy, Neuhow pointed it out and gave Keith an opportunity to correct or clarify.

Once he got talking, Keith was surprised at how much he remembered.

Neuhow ordered room service again several hours later, and he and Keith worked through supper as well.

At about nine o'clock in the evening, Neuhow said he had no more questions, and Keith said he was tired and that he couldn't think of anything to add to what he'd already said.

Keith called a taxi to take him to his hotel, about a mile from the Prism. As he hefted his suitcase with his left hand and got ready to depart, Keith offered his right hand to Neuhow.

"Was the first stage what you expected, Mr. Keith?" Neuhow asked, shaking Keith's hand.

"Yes. Pretty much, yes. I have to say, I'm really looking forward to the second stage."

"As am I. I'll see you on Sunday morning at eight, Mr. Keith."

"One more thing. I've had enough 'Mister-Keith-ing' for a while. Could you call me 'Willie,' and I call you 'Mark?'"

"That would be fine, Willie. Good night."

Early next morning, Maryk arrived. Maryk talked to Neuhow through breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Like Keith, Maryk was struck by the strange posture Neuhow took when writing, but Maryk was also impressed by the fact that Neuhow was taking down his words accurately. And like Keith, the more Maryk talked, the more he remembered.

They talked for fifteen hours. Eventually Neuhow said he had no more questions, and Maryk said he couldn't think of anything else to say.

As Maryk left, he shook hands with Neuhow.

"Was the first stage what you expected, Mr. Maryk?" Neuhow asked.

Maryk chuckled. "It was much longer than I expected. But otherwise, yes. Thank you."

"Thank _you_ , Mr. Maryk," Neuhow responded.

"When we do the second stage tomorrow morning, would it be all right if you called me 'Steve?'"

"Of course. And 'Mark' is my name."

"Good night, Mark."

"Good night, Steve."


	4. The Second Stage Begins

4\. The Second Stage Begins.

Promptly at eight o'clock on Sunday morning, Maryk and Keith returned to room 518 in the Prism. Neuhow welcomed them with a smile.

Maryk recognized immediately that the room was different. The suitcases that had previously been lined up against a wall were now open and distributed around the room. The typewriter on the table had been packed away. In its place lay a tray of doughnuts, along with slices of buttered toast, a selection of jams and jellies, and a supply of coffee with cream and milk and sugar.

Maryk and Keith made for the food. As they helped themselves to doughnuts and coffee, Maryk and Keith wondered how things were supposed to proceed in this second stage.

"That's largely up to you," Neuhow responded. "But first, gentlemen, why don't you tell each other how you would assess your experiences with the first stage?"

Maryk answered first. "Longer than I expected, but exactly as advertised."

Keith laughed. "I would say exactly the same thing!"

Maryk sipped his steaming coffee. "I have to tell you, Mark, that I was really amazed by how fast you can write, and record what was said exactly. That is quite a skill to have."

"It is a dying skill, I'm afraid," Neuhow sighed. "The trend now is to use machines to take shorthand. At your trial, Steve, the court reporter used a machine instead of taking notes by hand."

"I remember. I thought his machine was just a little typewriter, but it wasn't. At least, it wasn't like any typewriter I ever saw before."

Neuhow chuckled. "The court reporter in your case told me a funny story. At the first official proceeding he recorded, his machine almost got him killed. He was setting up the metal stand used to support his machine in preparation for the hearing, and one of the guards suddenly pointed a sidearm at him and told him to stop." Neuhow took a moment to look at the astonishment on the faces of Maryk and Keith, then continued. "The guard, apparently, had never seen one of these machines before, either; and he thought the court reporter was setting up a stand for a machine gun!"

Everyone enjoyed a laugh.

"So... you talked to the stenographer who recorded my trial?" Maryk asked Newhow.

"Yes, I did. He helped me with some questions about the trial transcript."

"Mark," Keith interjected, "I have to tell you: yesterday I toured New York City but I cannot remember most of what I did. My mind was occupied with trying to guess who you'd talked to before you spoke to us.. So let me tell you who I think you talked to, and you tell me if I'm right."

"Okay, go ahead."

"You talked to Captain De Vriess; of that I'm certain. You prompted me to talk about some conversations that only Steve and I and De Vriess knew about. Because I know you didn't get the story from Steve, you must have gotten it from De Vriess. So you must have talked to De Vriess, right?"

"Yes."

"And I'm pretty sure you talked to Harding and Paynter. And Stillwell."

"Right."

"Rabbit?"

"Yes."

"And unless I miss my guess, you also talked to Meatball."

"I did. Also Horrible, Animal, Ash, Puke, Red, Jockey. An interesting bunch of men."

"You talked to the mess boys, too," Maryk added. "I know you did."

"I spoke with all of the mess stewards, yes."

"How about Challee?" Maryk wondered whether the man who prosecuted him, and lost the case, would be willing to talk about it.

"Yes, but not for very long. We visited for only about a couple of hours or so. I tried to get him to tell his story, but he was pretty tight-lipped and was obviously still pretty sore about what happened. I asked him to talk about various things and he kept referring me to the trial transcript. About the only thing he told me that he got really worked up about and that _wasn't_ in the trial transcript was that he expected Captain Queeg to be a stronger witness."

"And you talked to Barney Greenwald, of course."

"Yes."

"I'd heard Barney stayed in the service after the War ended, to handle some difficult cases."

"That's right, he did."

"One of those cases involved some admiral's kid, I'd heard."

"That's true. Barney finished his work on that case just a day before we met."

"And how is Barney?" Keith asked, as he stirred some cream into his coffee. "Is he still in San Francisco?"

"Yeah," Maryk chimed in, "how is Barney doing?"

"I'll tell you what, Willie, Steve: get your breakfast and your coffee, and let's sit down and talk."


	5. The Story of Barney Greenwald

5\. The Story of Barney Greenwald.

Maryk and Keith made themselves comfortable on the sofa. End tables on either side gave them space for their dishes and their coffee cups. Neuhow sat in one of the armchairs and used the table as a resting place for his coffee. Neuhow had a notebook and pencil in his lap, at the ready.

"Steve, Willie," Neuhow began soberly. "It is my sad duty to tell you that Barney Greenwald is dead. I wasn't certain that you knew. It became clear to me during our discussions that you did not know. And I didn't want to break this news to you until after you'd told your stories to me."

Maryk and Keith were shell-shocked. Keith dropped the spoon he had been using to stir cream into his coffee. The spoon clattered on an end table and then fell to the carpeted floor with a dull thud. Keith made no effort to retrieve the spoon.

Maryk, like Keith, was frozen. A thought flashed through Maryk's mind that the experience was a new one for him; in spite of all he'd seen in the War, nothing before now had ever petrified him.

"I spoke to Barney the day before he died," Neuhow continued gently. "We talked for about three hours, is all. We were planning to talk again the next day. But that night, Barney decided to have a drink at his favorite watering hole. He got into a fight. He was outnumbered from the start. The other fellows killed him." Neuhow took a moment to compose himself. "When Barney didn't show up for our meeting the next morning, I started asking around. It took me a while before I got a straight answer as to what happened. Apparently, Barney overheard a naval officer make a remark to the effect that Hitler was a clod, but that Hitler had some pretty good ideas when it came to dealing with Jews."

"Oh, no," Maryk groaned.

"Barney took offense, and supposedly he demanded that the officer take back what he'd said. The officer told Barney, 'Get lost, Jew-boy!' And that was all it took. Barney threw the first couple of punches, but those were the only licks he got in. The fellow he'd hit, and his friends, decided to teach Barney a lesson. There is some question as to whether they meant to hurt him as badly as they did, but by the time they were through, Barney was as good as dead. He never even made it to a hospital."

"Did the men who killed him get arrested?" Maryk asked with trepidation.

"Yes, they got arrested; but they didn't get charged. The witnesses all said said it was self-defense, that Barney was the one who started the fight. There was more to it than that. Everyone who knew Barney knew that he could be a hothead, and that he had started fights in the past. And on top of that, one of the participants in the fight was the son of a congressman, so there was no way he could be charged unless the case was rock-solid. So, they just couldn't see how they could bring any charges under such circumstances." Neuhow looked Maryk in the eye. "Steve, do you remember when you first met Barney?"

"Of course."

"His hand was bandaged, wasn't it?"

Maryk understood at once the significance of the question. "He told me he'd had a crack-up. Are you saying he got that from a fight?"

"Yes. He threw a punch that broke another man's jaw, but that punch messed up his hand. It may interest you to know, Steve, that in a way, that fight was one of the circumstances that led Barney to represent you."

"Are you serious?"

"I am. Now, the fight where Barney hurt his hand, Barney didn't start that fight, the other guy pushed Barney first. But Barney over-reacted to the push and hauled off and really hit the guy. Broke his jaw, knocked out a couple of teeth. There was some discussion whether Barney ought to be charged for that. But Barney didn't get charged, because he agreed to represent you."

Maryk shook his head. "I don't understand."

"When the _Caine_ returned to San Francisco after the typhoon, you and Willie turned yourselves in and agreed to take responsibility for what you'd done. As you no doubt recall, there was a preliminary investigation, and a preliminary report."

"I remember."

"Every lawyer in that building, and I mean _every_ lawyer, read that report and thought you were as guilty as sin. One of the first guys to flat-out refuse to represent you was Barney Greenwald. Did you know that?"

"No. I didn't." Maryk looked over at Keith. Keith shook his head to indicate that he didn't know it, either.

"Well, it turned out that _none_ of the lawyers wanted to represent you, because none of the lawyers thought you had viable defense. But: this was a capital case, and _someone_ _had to_ defend you; but no one wanted to. There was some talk of drawing straws to see which unlucky lawyer would be elected to have his record reflect that he'd represented the two dumb mutinous bastards who were certain to get hanged. But after Barney got into trouble for fighting, some pressure was brought to bear on him to volunteer for the defense. The deal was, if Barney agreed to represent you, there would be no charges brought against him for the fight."

Maryk hung his head. "And I'd thought Barney took my case because he believed I had a legitimate defense."

Neuhow waited for Maryk to raise his head, and when he did, Neuhow looked Maryk in the eye. "Well, Steve, keep on believing that very thing, because according to Barney, that's _exactly_ the way it was." Neuhow paused a moment to let that sink in. "When Barney met with you and Willie, he had not agreed to take your case; he had only agreed to _talk_ to you. And he had decided that if, after meeting you, he still didn't want to take the case, he'd refuse the assignment and take his chances facing charges for fighting. And Steve, when he met you and Willie, he fully expected to tell you that he would _not_ take the case. Something happened to change his mind."

Keith spoke for the first time in several minutes. "Barney told us. After the trial, he told us. He took the case because he thought that the wrong man was on trial, and that Tom, Tom Keefer, had been behind the whole thing."

"That was part of it, yes," Neuhow responded, while making some shorthand notes. "But it wasn't the main reason." Neuhow rose from his chair and went to one of the suitcases. Presently he returned with a stack of papers tied in a folder. Neuhow untied the folder and extracted some of the papers. "Instead of me telling you why Barney took your case, I think he ought to tell you himself. Here is what he said."

* * *

 **Greenwald**

I've represented a lot of people, who'd been charged with a lot of things, though never anything this serious. Over time, I noticed a pattern. A lot of people who are charged with offenses will lie. They lie to their own lawyer. They lie to the court. They lie about where they were, what they did, who witnessed what, pretty much everything. And it's not just flat-out lying they do, they lie in lots of ways. They leave out facts, evade questions, make their answers unclear. And here's the strangest part: a lot of them, even if they have a perfectly legitimate defense, they _still_ lie, maybe because they think they need the edge that dishonesty might give them, I don't know.

When I talked to Steve Maryk and Willie Keith for the first time, I heard dishonesty, but not from them. It was obvious to me from the start that [Tom] Keefer was the slippery one. Keefer tried to tell me that Maryk deserved a medal for what he did!

At first, I assumed that Maryk was going to be just like Keefer.

But after Keefer left the room, and it was just Steve and Willie and me, it seemed to me that the entire tone of the conversation changed. And changed dramatically. Steve realized that I had been going after Keefer, and Steve immediately said, 'Tom had nothing to do with it.' Steve was willing to accept responsibility for what he'd done, and not try to blame anyone else.

I can't remember the last time one of my clients did that.

The questions I put to Steve were pretty harsh. But Steve answered with humility and frankness. One of the questions I put to some of the men I represent is, "Which are you: a fool or a criminal?" Most men in trouble deny being either one. With Maryk, I asked him, 'Which are you: a fool or a mutineer? There is no third option.' And Maryk said something like, 'I'm no mutineer, so I guess that means I'm a fool.'

This impressed me greatly.

* * *

"I remember that conversation differently," Maryk interrupted. "Barney asked me whether I was a fool or a mutineer, exactly like you read. But my answer, as I remember it, was, "All right, maybe I _am_ a fool, but _I'm no mutineer!_ "

Neuhow made some notes. When Maryk seemed to have nothing further to add, Neuhow took up the paper from which he'd been reading, and read some more.

* * *

 **Greenwald**

I threw Steve a curve ball or two, to test whether he was the real deal or just a really good liar; and what I found was that Steve was a straight arrow, maybe the straightest arrow I'd ever met. It was a refreshing thing, even an exhilarating thing. I found myself thinking that Steve was one of a rare breed, a person whose nature simply would not allow himself to tell any falsehood, as though any untruth from his mouth would cause his tongue to burst into flame.

At one point, Steve looked at me like a wounded puppy and asked whether I would take his case. At that point, I hadn't decided what I was going to do. I decided to try something that I've done with some other men I've had to defend. I told him that I'd rather prosecute him than defend him, and I say it in a very blunt way: 'I'd much rather prosecute.' Most of the men to whom I say that go pale and start to beg for my help; and I use that moment to pretend to have a change of heart, and I say, 'Okay, but you have to do what I say.' You see, I use that technique to get my clients to listen to me, so that they won't do anything stupid.

But Steve didn't beg. Instead, Steve said, 'Well, I guess I can't blame you.'

With that one answer, I made up my mind. I told him I'd take his case.

What I'm saying is, I saw that Steve Maryk was an honest man. _That_ was the deciding factor. I took his case because, if an honest man like this thought that he was right to do what he did, there must be something to it.

* * *

"Barney said that?" Maryk's voice was pitched higher than normal; he was choked up.

"Word for word. As for you, Willie, Barney also had some pretty good things to say. He thought of you as a man who was sort of the adopted son of Steve Maryk, and who thought a lot of Steve Maryk, and who wanted to be like him. At one point, he called you 'Maryk Jr.'"

Keith grinned, and Maryk grinned back. Neuhow looked for another page from the folder, and found it. "Barney told me something more."

* * *

 **Greenwald**

There was no question that Steve was going to have to take the stand in his own defense. There came a point where I sat him down and said, 'Look, Steve. You have to be one hundred percent straight with every answer you give.' I knew Steve was not disposed to tell anything less than the truth, but I really tried to drive the point home. I told him that he might feel tempted to be less than forthright, and he should resolve right here and now to resist that temptation.

* * *

Maryk nodded with enthusiasm. "That is exactly right! Barney told me that any lie, no matter how insignificant, would put my neck in the noose. Any falsehood, even on something unimportant, would be enough for the prosecutor to paint me as a prevaricator."

Neuhow made some notes in shorthand, then turned to Keith. "And. Willie, you told me yesterday that he made pretty much the same pitch to you."

"He did, yes," Keith responded. "Barney said he wanted one hundred percent honesty when I testified, and nothing less. He said that if I tried to be dishonest about anything at all, that it would mean Steve's and my necks. Now that it's all over, Mark, can I tell you that I felt somewhat ill at ease testifying to some things, because I didn't want to be too argumentative?"

Neuhow readied his pencil. "For example?"

Keith cleared his throat. "Challee asked me about whether I liked Captain Queeg, and I said that at first, I did. But as the days went by, I thought the captain was unfair to his men, and I didn't like that. So Challee asked me, 'So you ended up hating Captain Queeg?' And I said that I hated him. But after I thought about it, I realized that wasn't really what I meant. I didn't hate Queeg personally, I just hated how he acted as a commanding officer. And I didn't _hate_ what he did, I just _disliked_ it intensely and thought it was wrong. In my mind, I can dislike something without hating it. Maybe that would have just been seen as splitting hairs, or as being evasive."

"Personally, Willie, I'm glad you didn't split hairs with Challee," Maryk opined. "It would have looked bad. And for what it's worth, I know exactly how you feel. There was a time when Challee threw a bunch of psychiatric terms at me and asked me what they meant. I could give _some_ sort of answer, but any answer I gave would be wrong or over-simplified. I was no expert, and I never claimed otherwise. So I just admitted I didn't know."

Neuhow pulled up the trial transcript. "Willie, here is how that testimony went."

* * *

 **Testimony of Lt. Steven Maryk, USNR**

Q: [by Mr. Challee]: Where'd you get the idea the captain was crazy?

A: From books.

Q: What books? Name the titles.

A: I can't remember them.

Q: Mr. Maryk, define schizophrenia.

A: I can't.

Q: What is a manic depressive?

A: I don't know.

Q: What is the difference between paranoid and paranoia?

A: I don't know.

* * *

Maryk hung his head. "I don't know that I've ever felt as low in my life as I did when Challee was questioning me."

"Keep in mind," Neuhow said, "that Challee knew the answer to every question he asked you. If you had answered any way other than what you did, he'd have been all over you."

"That is _exactly_ what Barney told me. Barney also told me ahead of time that he was _not_ going to interrupt Challee's questions, and that the questions were going to be brutal; but I had to show the court that I could stand on my own and tell the truth without falling apart."

Neuhow made some notes, then picked up the transcript. "Do you remember Challee's first questions to you, Steve?"

"Yes. He asked me about my grades in high school and college. It was the _way_ he asked about them that really hurt. He said, 'Would you say that your grades in high school were average?' This forced me to testify to something I'm not proud about; I had to testify my high school grades were lower than average. Challee wasn't the one who said, 'Lower than average'; he forced _me_ to say it. Same with my college grades, 'Lower than average.' Every question he asked made me feel like a bigger dope."

"There was one answer you gave that didn't sound dopey, Steve," Neuhow said. "When Challee confronted you with the psychiatrists' opinions, you pointed out succinctly that they weren't in the ship. The implication was that they didn't really know how Queeg was behaving."

"You know, I don't really remember that testimony clearly," Maryk admitted. "I'm sure you're right, I'm sure it's in the transcript. But what I remember more clearly is that Challee tried to make _me_ out to be the crazy one. He asked me, if the psychiatrists are right, I would be guilty as charged, wouldn't I?" Maryk's voice started to break. "And I said, 'I guess maybe so.' I've never felt so low as I did at that moment. It was all I could do to keep my head up and walk back to the table to sit next to Barney. Did I tell you what Barney said to me when I sat down next to him?"

Neuhow made some notes, then poised his pencil for more. "Tell us."

"He told me to cheer up."

Keith couldn't help but laugh. "Really?"

"Yes. He said something like, 'Cheer up, you've only seen the first act.' What he meant was that, with witnesses being called out of order, Queeg was going to be the last witness to testify, instead of one of the first witnesses to testify. He was reminding me that Queeg was going to have his turn in the hot seat. But I have to say, even that reminder didn't cheer me up. I didn't realize that being honest could be so painful to the soul. During a recess, Barney took me aside and gave me a pep talk. He said that I had walked through the fire. He said I answered the way I had to, with the truth. He said that it didn't matter what grade I got in high school Geometry; what mattered was what grade I got in being truthful in the courtroom. Then he patted my shoulder and said, 'Well _above_ average, Steve; top of the class.' He told me that he was watching the court and he could see that my straightforwardness had impressed the court."

Neuhow had been making notes, then put down his pencil. "Steve, I think I ought to tell you, Barney wasn't the only one to say this."


	6. The Anonymous Ones

6\. The Anonymous Ones.

Neuhow set the Greenwald file aside.

Maryk was curious: "Someone else told you the court was impressed with me being forthright? Do you mean Challee?"

"No. About the only thing that Jack Challee said to me about your credibility was that he didn't catch you in any lies when you testified."

"The members of the court?" Maryk guessed. "Are you saying the members of the court were impressed with my testimony?"

"Yes."

"You _talked_ to them? You knew that they were impressed because you _asked_ them?"

"Yes, exactly. There were seven men on the court. Four of them agreed to talk to me, two declined, and another would only speak to me briefly and only on the condition that I agreed not to make any notes. Now, for the men who spoke with me at some length, my deal with them was: I cannot quote them on anything in my book, and I cannot identify who talked to me and who didn't. So don't ask me any questions about who talked and who didn't. As far as you're concerned, they have to remain anonymous. I also spoke to some of the court staff, the clerks, the stenographer. But those people have to remain anonymous, too. Okay?"

"Okay," Maryk nodded.

"Okay," Keith agreed.

"All I have to say right now is that your straightforward nature held you in good standing with the court, Steve. Barney gave you some good advice."

"Yes, he did."

"The people I talked to also said that, in the honesty department, you won out over Queeg," Neuhow said. "They were far less impressed with him. When I talked to Challee, I asked whether he had talked to Queeg about what to expect on the stand. Challee at first got testy, and reminded me that Queeg wasn't his client. But then he said that he and Queeg had briefly discussed what to expect when Queeg gave his testimony. Challee admonished Queeg to tell the truth, and told him that some of the questions would be difficult to answer, but if he told the truth, he'd be fine."

"And you said Challee was disappointed in Queeg's testimony?" Willie asked.

"Challee expected Queeg to be tougher during Barney's examination. Challee didn't say so plainly, but I think he also thought that some of Queeg's testimony on direct examination could have been better, too."

"In what way?" Maryk asked. "Queeg was very poised when he gave his testimony to Challee. Queeg was not exactly truthful, from my point of view, but I had to admit he was very smooth and gentlemanly and composed."

"Yes, there was general agreement that Queeg was very well composed," Neuhow agreed. "But there were a number of things testified to by others with which Queeg disagreed. Challee tried to get Queeg to explain in more detail why the captain's version of the events was the correct one, but Queeg didn't seem to understand that he needed to be less gentlemanly and more forceful."

"And some of the fellows on the court told you that they weren't impressed with Queeg's honesty?"

"They didn't talk about Queeg's testimony in terms of his 'honesty.' They talked in terms of his 'credibility.' One member of the court said that 'honesty' and 'credibility' don't mean the same thing."

"They _don't_ mean the same thing?" Maryk was puzzled.

"Not according the one of the members of the court. He told me that 'honesty' relates to whether a witness tells the truth or lies; and 'credibility' relates to whether a witness _believes_ he tells the truth, but actually doesn't tell the truth. It's a subtle distinction."

"Yes, it is." Maryk took a deep breath. "Did any members of the court tell you how they came to their decision? Or would it have been out of line to ask them about that?"

Neuhow contemplated his answer before he gave it. "I didn't ask any of them why they decided the way they did. But they told me, without me asking. Steve, I don't know whether you realize how close you came to being convicted."


	7. The Court's View of the Typhoon

7\. The Court's View of the Typhoon.

Maryk bit his lower lip. "When I first talked to Barney, he told me I had an excellent chance of being hanged. Sounds like he was right on the money."

"Actually," Neuhow drawled, "your risk of hanging was somewhat less than 'excellent,' but there was no way you or Barney or anyone else could know that. Navy Regulations permit, but do not require, infliction of the death penalty. Some officers that made up the court felt that hanging would be unjust in your case. You didn't strike the captain, or brandish a weapon, or throw him in irons, or threaten him in any way. If you'd done any of those things, you'd really be at risk of the noose. But you acted in a non-threatening manner, and cited regulations to justify your actions. There was also some question about whether your intent was criminal or well-meaning. All those things meant that some on the court had serious doubts about hanging even before the trial started. At least two others on the court felt differently; they were of the view that if you were found guilty, you'd pay the full price. If nothing else, they felt it would be very important to make an example of you. There is no question, though, that a guilty verdict would have resulted in very unpleasant consequences for you."

Maryk looked sullen. "Barney also told me that I the issue of my guilt or innocence would turn on whether I had 'justifiable cause' to do what I did."

"That's true," Neuhow responded. "But 'justifiable cause' can be a slippery thing. Some of the reasons that you think gave you good cause to relieve the captain might be deemed irrelevant. For example: consider whether there would be 'justifiable cause' to relieve a captain during a typhoon based upon incidents that had nothing to do with the typhoon."

"I'm not following."

"One of the most difficult questions for the court to decide," Neuhow said as he retrieved some documents from one of his cases, "was whether the court ought to consider what you did during the typhoon as the predominant, determining issue." Neuhow lifted a stack of tied folders from one of the cases, and returned to his seat, placing the folders on his lap. "After all, your conduct during the typhoon was the basis for the charges. So there were some on the court who thought that what happened during the typhoon was the _only_ thing that mattered, and all of the other preceding incidents were basically of no consequence."

Maryk saw where this was going. "You mean, if the court looked at what happened during the typhoon, and _only_ at what happened during the typhoon, then I would have been found guilty?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying. The court felt, and felt _unanimously_ I might add, that what you did during the typhoon was damn near indefensible, if looked at in isolation."

"But they weren't there!" Willie protested. "They didn't experience how close we came to rolling over!"

"Willie," Neuhow replied coolly, "at least three members of the court served aboard naval vessels that nearly foundered in severe storms. They _did_ know what you went through."

Keith didn't know how to respond.

Maryk swallowed. "The first thing Barney said to me was that he thought what Willie and I did during the typhoon... stinks."

"And the court agreed." Neuhow thumbed through a folder and found some papers. "Let me read to you what one member of the court said."

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

The typhoon, sweet Jesus, the typhoon. The ship's captain testified that Maryk went berserk and began shouting orders, under the impression that he and only he could save the ship. I didn't agree with the captain's assessment that Maryk went nuts, because none of the other evidence seemed to support it; but it seemed to me to be uncontradicted that Maryk was shouting and trying to tell everyone, including the captain, what to do.

Maryk wanted to change course and come due north, into the wind. The captain said no, that fleet course was one-eight-zero, and he had not received orders to maneuver at discretion. On this point, the captain was one hundred percent right. I mean, Jesus, the _Caine_ wasn't the only ship out there. A course change like that could cause a collision, and in fact, there were at least two near-collisions, if I remember right. Maryk was a little bit lucky that the _Caine_ didn't get walloped by another ship in the fleet. Also, heading due south would take the ship away from the storm, not toward it.

Maryk also said that the ship was in danger of capsizing, and he recommended taking on ballast. The captain refused. Once again, the captain was one hundred percent right. Taking on salt water would probably have fouled up the _Caine_ 's engines, and she might even go dead in the water. And if a ship in a typhoon loses her engines, she loses all control, and she's almost certainly a goner. The captain knew that. What I don't understand was why Maryk _didn't_ know it.

Let me correct that. I'm sure Maryk did know it. What I'm saying is, that taking on ballast would be pretty much an option of last resort, especially if the tanks have fuel. Maryk seemed to think that the situation was far more serious than it actually was. What I'm saying is that the evidence more than supported the captain's decision not to take on ballast.

As for the _Caine_ rolling over, the testimony just didn't seem to back that up. Sure, they had some listing and some harrowing moments when they may have thought they were going to roll over, but they didn't. DMSes like the _Caine_ don't flip that easily, at least that's what the expert testimony at the trial confirmed. These guys were really worried, maybe even scared, I have no doubt. But the captain kept his head, even if everybody else was losing theirs.

* * *

Maryk and Keith looked pale. Eventually Maryk spoke. "They did know that after I ordered change of course, that I didn't give an order to take on ballast, right? I mean, I could have put some sea water in our empty fuel tanks without it affecting the engines, but I didn't. They knew I didn't foul up the _Caine_ 's engines, didn't they? They knew I kept the ship under control, didn't they?"

"They knew. They deemed it irrelevant, unimportant."

"They knew we didn't collide with anyone. In fact, because we changed our heading, we were able to find another ship that _had_ foundered, and we were able to rescue some of her crew."

"They knew. Irrelevant."

"Well," Maryk's voice cracked, "I must have done _something_ right. They wouldn't have acquitted me if they hadn't seen something in what I did. Isn't that right?"

Neuhow retrieved another paper from the folder. He prefaced with the words, "From a different judge," and began to read.

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

I have to say that Maryk's conduct during the typhoon was most puzzling to me. At first, I assumed he was simply scared, but the evidence at the trial was to the contrary. The testimony from the man at the wheel really struck a chord with me. Maryk wasn't scared, the captain wasn't scared, but the man at the wheel himself was damn scared.

So, if Maryk wasn't scared, why did he do what he did? At trial, I could see Maryk wasn't the brightest guy, and he was the first to acknowledge that fact. But even if he wasn't especially sharp, Maryk wasn't stupid, either. The captain's orders made sense, but Maryk couldn't see it. And at first, I couldn't understand why. He, Maryk, seemed to be pretty much an honest guy, you know, diligent, thorough, professional: the kind of a guy you'd like to have on your team.

I think I saw a few things, though, [that] gave me a little insight into what Maryk did. Number one, the captain got angry about the depth charges being set on 'safe.' I'm sure the captain would have agreed that the charges _should have_ been made safe, and he may have rightly been angry that someone other than him had given the order, and not told him; but for the captain to suggest that the order to set the charges on 'safe' was foolhardy because the _Caine_ might do some sub-hunting during the typhoon... well, that seemed a bit odd to me.

Number two, some of the orders Maryk gave were right out of 'the book' for navigating in very rough seas. Maryk would have been right to give the orders had he been in command, but with the captain present, he deferred to the captain. It was only when the captain didn't seem willing to give the orders, that Maryk gave them.

You know, the first captain I served under was Captain Howard, and he said something to me that I've never forgotten. He said, "When you give an order, render that order smartly!" Well, the testimony was consistent that Captain Queeg did not render his orders smartly, which I found notable.

There was testimony that the captain had said, prior to the typhoon, 'Always go by the book,' and it seemed to me that, in some ways, that is what Maryk did.

Number three, the manner in which Maryk relieved the captain was not the manner of a man who was crazed or angry or frightened or overcome with emotion. No one drew a sidearm, nobody hit anybody, there weren't even any threats of violence. The regulation that Maryk was relying upon was correctly cited. The testimony from all those who were there, including the captain, showed that Maryk was professional and courteous. Not what I expected at all.

And fourth, I guess, is how Maryk behaved after the typhoon was over, how the _Caine_ participated in rescue operations, and how Maryk made no effort to evade what he had done. These aren't excusing circumstances in any way, shape, or form; but again, this wasn't what I was expecting.

* * *

Neuhow put away the sheet from which he'd been reading. "This person had a lot more to say than this. Not all of it was nice about you. Some of it was quite harsh about you, Steve, and you too, Willie. Let me read one particular thing this same judge said, and the other members of the court said basically the same thing. I should explain that what I'm about to read was said in an angry tone."

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

At least one witness testified that the captain had put the ship in danger. _No, he didn't!_ Captain Queeg gave _no order_ that put the _Caine_ in any more danger than she was already in! Queeg was following _his_ orders! He didn't give any order that was crazy or out of line! Maryk and Keith had _no right_ to substitute _their_ judgment for that of the captain on any question of shiphandling! Period!

* * *

Maryk was glum. "It sounds like those things they thought I did right... were still wrong."

"In a manner of speaking, yes. If all that mattered was what happened during the typhoon, then the two of you would probably not be here chatting with me right now. What saved you was that the court decided not to restrict its focus to the typhoon."

"I remember— almost every time someone mentioned some oddball thing the captain did— Challee would ask, 'Did that have anything to do with the typhoon?' I suppose that, if the members of the court decided to focus on the typhoon and _only_ the typhoon, then all of those oddball incidents would have been deemed unimportant."

"That's right, they would have been irrelevant. In the end, the court decided that it needed to look at the bigger picture, not just the typhoon. Oh, and there was one more thing about the typhoon that was strongly in your favor."

"There was?" Maryk couldn't imagine what it might be.

Neuhow grinned. "If you'd asked the Navy's permission to take command, they would have, very likely, told you no."

"But I couldn't ask," Maryk protested. "The typhoon had knocked the radio out."

"Exactly. That was one of the factors going your way. Before you relieved the captain, the regulations required you to consult the Navy, if practical to do so. In your case, the issue of practicality was decidedly in your favor. You _couldn't_ ask the Navy; you _had_ to act upon the basis of the information you had. And so the court felt that it was compelled to look at _all_ of the information you had."


	8. The Tow Cable

8\. The Tow Cable.

Neuhow offered to have lunch brought up by room service. Maryk and Keith said they weren't hungry, but Neuhow called room service and ordered three roast beef sandwiches anyway. Once the sandwiches arrived, Maryk and Keith each took one.

As they ate, they went over some subjects they'd already discussed, and Willie brought up the subject of the _Caine's_ misstep during target-towing. He wondered whether any of the others Neuhow had interviewed had any additional information about the incident.

While on target-towing duty, the _Caine_ had steamed in a circle and rode over her own tow cable, causing the towline to part and set the target adrift. Queeg had testified at trial that the towline parted because it was defective, and Queeg had denied that the _Caine_ had steamed over her own towline. Queeg also denied that he was neglectful, being unconcerned about the course of the ship because his attention was entire directed to bawling out Keith and a sailor about loose shirttails.

"At the trial, no one backed up Queeg's story," Maryk said. As Maryk talked about the testimony during the trial, he recalled some additional details about the incident itself. Neuhow took notes as Maryk described the reactions of the officers and the men to the incident. Keith related some details of Queeg's behavior after the event.

When Maryk and Keith seemed to have said all they wanted to say, Neuhow went to his files and extracted a folder. He untied the folder and found a particular document. "Let me read to you what someone else said about this incident: the man at the wheel."

* * *

 **Stillwell**

It was when the target-towing exercise was concluded that the captain ordered a turn to the right. I need to explain something. Sometime earlier, the captain ordered right standard rudder, and I knew from hearing his conversations with other officers that he wanted to steady up on a particular course. As we came to that course, I announced that I was steadying up on that course. This is exactly how I would have done things with the previous captain, Captain De Vriess. De Vriess liked it that I used my head like that, even commended me for it; his usual response was something like, 'Very well, steady up.' But Captain Queeg wasn't like that; he chewed my tail off. 'Who told you to steady up?!' he shouted. I nearly messed myself, I was so frightened and embarrassed. Later, the officers told me not to worry about it, that Queeg just has different ways of doing things, and we all have to get used to his way of doing things.

So anyway: we were done towing targets, and the captain was pleased to get a 'well done' message, and the captain gave the order to turn, and after a time I could tell we were about to turn too far, and I tried to tell the captain, but he screamed at me not to interrupt. He was busy chewing off Mr. Keith's tail, and I sure as hell didn't want him to chew mine off again. So I grit my teeth and didn't say anything more about it. We turned past our intended heading and kept turning, until we'd pretty much gone in a circle. We were passing within a stone's throw of our target, and before anyone could do anything, there was a rumble as our hull rode over the tow cable. I grit my teeth because I thought the cable might foul our screws, but thank God, it didn't.

* * *

Keith smiled. "Stillwell was a good man."

"What do you think of what he said?" Neuhow asked. "Anything you disagree with or want to clarify?"

Maryk and Keith looked at one another, then shook their heads.

"Did someone else take issue with what Stillwell had to say?" Maryk wanted to know.

When Neuhow was slow to answer, Keith interjected, "I'll bet Queeg did."

"In his trial testimony, he sure did," Maryk agreed. "He called Stillwell 'unreliable.' But I thought Captain Queeg was being harsh. Stillwell was one of the most reliable men on the ship. I was very glad he was at the wheel during the typhoon, I can tell you."

"Me too," Keith said. "But the captain wanted to relieve Stillwell, you know."

"Really?" Neuhow exclaimed, readying his notepad and a pencil. "Was this before the typhoon, or during?"

"During. Not too long before Steve relieved the captain."

"What do you think of what Willie just said, Steve?" Neuhow looked at Maryk.

"Wait a minute," Maryk interjected. "Did nobody tell you that? Willie's right, the captain thought Stillwell was backtalking, and wanted to relieve him. I advised the captain that Stillwell was our best man, and as I recall, the captain did not press the issue."

Neuhow made some notes. "I don't believe that the captain wanting to relieve Stillwell was mentioned at the trial. I'm fairly sure the two of you didn't mention it at trial, and that the captain didn't mention it at trial. Stillwell didn't mention it, not at trial, and not when he talked to me. I will have to contact him to see what he has to say on the matter, of course."

"Sure," Maryk said. "I'm sure he'll agree that it happened. Stillwell didn't actually get relieved, but I suppose it was part of the picture. The captain thought that everyone was questioning his orders."

Neuhow took more notes.

"The business of steaming over our own towline was pretty well established wasn't it?" Keith said. "Stillwell, and Horrible, and Animal, and Meatball, and Vincent, and Zeppo: they all agreed that that is what happened."

"Some of those fellows did not testify at trial," Neuhow reminded them. "Most of those that did testify weren't asked about it."

"Yeah, but the point is: everyone knew that's what happened. The only one who said otherwise was the captain."

"At least one of the men testified during the trial that no effort was made to retrieve the target," Maryk pointed out. "The captain didn't want to bother with it, and recommended that a tug go out and get it. I heard that a tug was sent out the next day and couldn't find the damned thing."

"That's true," Neuhow confirmed. "Queeg told me he took some heat for that; Captain Grace at ComServPac bawled Queeg out, saying that targets cost money. Queeg answered that his boatswain's mate had advised that recovery would be difficult, and Queeg didn't feel that his ship could make the recovery."

"All I know is, Queeg claimed the towline was defective and it parting was not his fault," Maryk added. "He gave that as his excuse during the trial, and even said so in an official despatch. That was a load of bunk. And he also told the court that he ordered the turn to avoid anti-aircraft bursts, and that this was what was holding his attention. That was a load of bunk, too."

"Did you know that some of the men remembered there being anti-aircraft bursts?" Neuhow prompted. "It wasn't just the captain. But nobody was asked about AA bursts at trial."

"Really?" Maryk was surprised. "I think they may be a little mixed up. As I recall, the anti-aircraft bursts happened the day before; we were operating in a gunnery area and the captain thought we might be in the range of firing. Those bursts had nothing to do with steaming over the cable. Anyway, bursts or not, the captain was the only one who tried to blame the incident on a faulty towline."

"Let me show you something you might find interesting," Neuhow said. He rose, returned a file to one case, and pulled another file from another case. Opening the file, he found a photograph, and he handed the photograph to Maryk. Keith leaned over to get a look.

The photograph showed a gloved hand holding a cable, its end frayed and unraveling. The background of the photograph suggested that the picture had been taken aboard a ship at sea.

"That looks like the cable we pulled in from the _Caine_ , right after we steamed over it," Maryk said.

"It sure does," Keith agreed. "But I don't remember anyone taking any pictures. Where'd you get this?"

"The photograph is not from the _Caine_ ," Neuhow explained. "It's from the _Pluto_. Not too long before the typhoon, the _Pluto_ was towing a ship that had taken an enemy torpedo. The towline parted. This photograph was taken shortly after a new towline was rigged. At least twelve other ships had similar incidents with their towlines as well. The Navy even confronted the supplier about defective cables."

"Well, first of all, our towline wasn't defective, we steamed over it," Maryk responded with conviction. "And second, if all these towlines were defective, why didn't Challee prove that at trial? It would have made the captain more believable."

"Challee couldn't bring it up at trial because he didn't know about it, simple as that. The Navy didn't make its complaint until after the trial was over." Neuhow produced another document from the folder, and handed it to Maryk. "Here's is a copy of the Navy's official complaint. You'll see it lists several incidents of defective tow cables, including the incident with the _Caine_."

"You mean, in connection with the target-towing incident, the Navy believed Captain Queeg?" Keith asked meekly.

"No, I mean that the Navy used the target-towing incident with the _Caine_ to try to lodge a complaint with a supplier." Neuhow collected the photograph and the document, and returned them to a file, then returned the file to a case. He then extracted another folder from another case. "Here is what the Navy thought about the towline, at least in your case."

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

The trial was so dead serious, and yet there were a couple of times that I had to stop myself from laughing, like that business with the tow cable. I can completely understand how that could have happened. The captain funked it, I have no doubt; he got distracted and lost track of where his ship was headed.

But when it came his turn to testify, he tried to blame everyone but himself. But damn it, he's the captain, it's _his_ fault. What in the hell did he think he was accomplishing by denying it?

The tow cable business had nothing to do with the typhoon, but all I can say is that I've known officers like that, who've fouled up and won't take responsibility for their own foul-ups. And let me tell you, that's one of the best ways to undermine respect and destroy morale.

* * *

Neuhow looked up. "Another officer on the court felt the same way. He didn't fault Queeg for chewing you out, Willie, or for coming down hard on Horrible for having his shirttails out. But he did fault Queeg for losing track of where his ship was going. He said something like, 'Any ship's captain ought to be able to direct his vessel and chew out a subordinate at the same time.' Even so, there seemed to be a general agreement among the court that the target-towing incident did not not really have much to do with the issue of mental capacity. But it was very relevant in one key respect: it called the captain's credibility into question. Everyone who testified about the event said that the _Caine_ rode over her own cable... except for the captain."

"Except for the captain," Maryk repeated. "The towline business wasn't the only incident in which the captain was telling a story at trial that was different from everyone else's. The strawberry incident comes to mind. And the Yellowstain incident."

"Yes, and there were a few other things," Neuhow agreed. "Probably the Yellowstain story was the most damning. Before we talk about the Yellowstain thing in more detail, though, I think I'd better tell you fellows something that you don't seem to have realized."

"What's that?" Maryk asked.

"I've spoken to a lot of men who were on the _Caine_. We've named some of them. But I'm not sure whether you're aware that I also spoke to Captain Queeg."


	9. The Journey of Captain Queeg

9\. The Journey of Captain Queeg.

Maryk and Keith stunned by what Neuhow had said. Maryk was the first to talk: "Queeg talked to you? I can't believe it."

"I caught up to him in a small town in Iowa, where he had been overseeing a Navy depot. When I paid my call, Queeg's wife was spending a week with friends in Chicago. She hated Iowa, by the way. Well, Queeg was reluctant to speak to me at first, but I gave him my two-stage pitch, and he was intrigued. More than anything, I think he was curious about what kinds of things had been said about him behind his back."

"I'll _bet_ he was curious," Maryk drawled. "I'll bet he was also upset by what was said."

"A little. He took issue with a lot of what was said, but he didn't raise his voice more than three or four times."

"So you've talked to two captains of the _Caine_."

"At least two; now that I'm talking to you, Willie, I can say I've talked to another captain of the _Caine_ , her last captain. De Vriess, of course, wasn't on the _Caine_ during the typhoon, but he knew everyone who played a part. Except he didn't really know Captain Queeg. De Vriess didn't have much to say about Queeg, but what he did have to say about Queeg was, well, _highly uncomplimentary_ , and he has asked that I not repeat those uncomplimentary remarks. Apparently Queeg inadvertently made De Vriess mad after relieving him."

"Made him mad?" Maryk repeated. "How so?"

"De Vriess wouldn't say, but I got the feeling that, whatever Queeg said or did, it must have been highly offensive, and yet Queeg was completely unaware that he'd given offense. Queeg had nothing harsh to say about De Vriess, except that he wanted De Vriess to be off the _Caine_ as soon as possible. De Vriess offered to stay on board for a while to help Queeg, but Queeg said he appreciated the offer but politely declined."

"Even if Queeg _wasn't_ polite," Maryk pondered, "I can't see a man like De Vriess getting offended by _that_. It isn't like De Vriess to really dislike someone without a good reason. I wonder what Queeg did?"

The room was silent for a few moments.

Neuhow broke the silence. "You might find interesting, Steve, what De Vriess told me about you. He told me that he had no idea why you did what you did, and on the face of it, it seemed to be the most dung-headed thing he'd every heard. But he said he knew there had to be more to the story. He knew you were a good man, Steve. You too, Willie. After the _Caine_ business, he requested that you be assigned to his new command, Willie. Did you know that?"

Willie could hardly get out the words. "He never told me, no. I thought it was just a matter of luck. As I've already told you, I'd been told my commanding officer was named Shoemaker." Neuhow had heard the story, but Keith wasn't certain that Maryk had heard it, so Keith told it again for Maryk's benefit. "When I reported for duty, I found that Captain Shoemaker had been relieved, for medical reasons, they said. And I'm waiting for the new commanding officer to arrive and I'll be damned but it was De Vriess. De Vriess greeted me by name and seemed to enjoy the fact that I was stunned that I was once again under his command."

"There was no luck involved, Willie, he _asked_ for you. De Vriess knew he'd be taking command from Shoemaker nearly three weeks earlier, and he asked to have you assigned to his ship. He didn't have to ask too hard, since a lot of ships' captains weren't too keen on you." Neuhow turned to Maryk. "De Vriess would have gladly brought you on as well, Steve. But unlike Willie, you were poison. The Bureau of Personnel had already stuck you on an LCI, and basically, your naval career was shot to hell." Neuhow looked back to Keith. "But Willie Keith, who avoided trial and who had some nice family connections, and who had been a trainee of Steve Maryk, well, De Vriess was very pleased to have you. De Vriess even recommended you for command of the _Caine_ , you know."

"That, I did know," Willie said. "If I remember right, Tom Keefer was in command of the _Caine_ and hated it. And one of De Vriess's friends at the Bureau asked De Vriess about a new commander, and De Vriess recommended me. But I have to say, when I served under Captain De Vriess the first time, I thought he didn't like me all that much."

Maryk chuckled. "There's a difference between 'dislike' and the acidic harshness with which De Vriess treated all of his officers. De Vriess never wanted anyone to forget who the captain was. But if you ever spoke with him one-on-one, you could see that he wasn't a harsh or cruel man."

Neuhow fetched a folder and leafed through it. "You might find something De Vriess told me to be interesting, Willie."

* * *

 **De Vriess**

Sure, I remember meeting Willie Keith for the first time. I took a dislike to him immediately.

I've seen officers like him before, Ivy League hotshots, who have no respect for men like me, who think they know how to be officers because they have wealth or breeding. Keith was Princeton educated, but he had a mixed record at midshipman school, with lots of demerits. Education is a fine thing, but I'd rather have a man who's got common sense, and it didn't look to me like Keith had it.

I thought maybe all the demerits on his record was the reason Keith got assigned to a rust-bucket like the _Caine_. But it seemed equally likely to me that Keith's assignment was, let's say, an 'oversight' by the Navy. Not long after he came aboard, Keith was given a chance to leave the _Caine_. I thought he'd jump at the chance; what Ivy League hotshot wouldn't? And I would have been glad to see him go. So I decided to bruise his ego a little, to encourage him to seize the opportunity. He rather surprised me when he said he'd rather stay aboard the _Caine_. 'Okay,' I said to myself, 'this kid's either got some integrity, or he's a complete jackass.' Keith stuck it out and thank heaven above, he _wasn't_ a total jackass, and he actually showed some promise. Keith had a hard time fitting in at first, and fouled up pretty bad when he failed to deliver an order to me, and I had to reprimand him for that. But the best thing about Keith was that he looked up to Steve Maryk, who had no education to speak of but had plenty of common sense. Maryk was a good teacher, and that probably meant Keith was going to be a damned good officer.

* * *

"He never told me any of that," Keith lamented. "When I served under him later, he told me, 'I'm glad to see you've got some experience,' and he treated me better. He gave me good evaluations of my performance, too. He made a point of telling me I'd earned them."

Neuhow sat up straight and smiled. "Fellows, I'm curious about something, so let me ask you: Who do you think was older, Queeg or De Vriess?"

"Queeg, I'd wager," Maryk hazarded. "I knew De Vriess was in his early forties, but I thought Queeg was maybe ten years older."

"I agree," Keith said. "When I took command of the _Caine_ , I figured I was half of Queeg's age when he took command."

"Both men, De Vriess and Queeg, were very old for their duties, wouldn't you say?" Neuhow asked.

"Yes," Maryk agreed. "Nearly every other ship's captain I met was much younger. I even met some who were younger than me."

"What if I told you that, of the two men, De Vriess was the older of the two?"

"Are you serious?" Maryk stammered.

"I am. De Vriess had a pretty long service in the Navy, as I'm sure you know. He was even thinking about retiring from the Navy when the war broke out. It's a long story, but he was pretty disappointed to be given the _Caine_."

"And you say Queeg is _younger_?"

"By about two years. He looks older in part because he used to have a heavy smoking habit, and it really aged him. Also, his father was one of these guys who got gray hair and a craggy face in his twenties and looked to be fifty when he was only thirty, so maybe part of it was Queeg's blood. Anyway, Queeg got into the regular Navy when he was a little older than most, and he _looked_ a lot older than most of the men. He had a pretty rough time for a while."

"I can imagine. He probably got outranked by men younger than him, and looked _a lot_ younger than him."

"That was part of it, yes. But he also had to deal with people making fun of him, and making fun of his name. Queeg. Queequeg. Queasy... Queen... Q _ueer_. You can imagine. He put up with a lot."

Maryk and Keith exchanged sympathetic looks.

Neuhow went on: "Queeg told me he took that disrespect, day after day. Queeg served in the North Atlantic, served on two ships that got torpedoed by German u-boats. During that service, he showed a kind of toughness and composure that earned the respect of the others. The teasing stopped. He was quite proud of that."

"Rightly so, I suppose," Maryk commented.

"But despite a good record, injuries and age and plain old bad luck kept Queeg from rising in the ranks. He aspired to command, and all he got offered was the _Caine_. He thought he was better than the _Caine_ , but the _Caine_ is what the Navy gave him, so he took it. He was originally determined to make it the best ship in the Navy. But after getting a good look at the _Caine_ , he decided that the war wouldn't last long enough for him to make the _Caine_ the one of the best ships, and he realized that he would have his hands full keeping the _Caine_ from being one of the worst ships in the Navy."

"Captain De Vriess felt pretty much the same way," Maryk said. "He thought the _Caine_ had outlived her usefulness."

Neuhow nodded. "Queeg told me that, after being relieved, De Vriess had told Queeg that the _Caine_ ought to be retired, and melted down for razor blades. But De Vriess also told Queeg that his crew was solid, that the men were all good men."

Maryk was surprised. "He did? De Vriess told Queeg that the men of the _Caine_ were _good men_? Who'd you hear that from, Queeg or De Vriess?"

"Both. First De Vriess, then Queeg. According to Queeg, De Vriess said that every man aboard was okay."

"I find that a little hard to believe," Maryk said, "considering how De Vriess said good-bye to the men of the _Caine._ "

"How _did_ he say good-bye?" Neuhow readied his pencil.

"Some of the guys chipped in and got him a watch, and presented it to him as a present as he was leaving the _Caine_. He took the watch and then insulted them, then left. He said he was going to set the watch thirty minutes slow to remind him of the fouled-up crew of the _Caine_."

Neuhow made some notes. "Did you witness this yourself?"

"No, I heard of it from several people."

"It was common knowledge," Keith added. "It meant that Captain Queeg started his command with some of the men having wounded morale."

Maryk picked up the thought. "And then, when Queeg tried being stricter than De Vriess had been, well, you know how that turned out."

"Morale _really_ went to hell," Keith said.

Neuhow made some notes, and nodded. "That seems to be the consensus. Queeg thought he had no choice, though. He hoped that a burst of discipline would be like a bucket of cold water on both the officers and the men, wake them up and straighten them out. But it didn't have the effect that he thought it would. It probably won't surprise you to learn that the members of the court felt Queeg was acting properly when he tried to shape up the _Caine_ , and they had absolutely no sympathy for any complaint that related to discipline."

"No, that doesn't surprise me," Maryk agreed. "Like you said earlier, nobody gave a damn that Queeg chewed off Willie's hindquarters during the target-towing shirttail thing. Yet that was the story Challee was trying to sell at my trial, wasn't it? The men were upset with the captain for no reason other than that he wanted them to tuck in their shirttails."

"Yes, and that strategy backfired. For one thing, none of the officers or men really made a stink about the discipline during the trial, and most of them actually acknowledged that discipline was the captain's prerogative. And for another thing, Barney Greenwald was able to point out that the men of the _Caine_ weren't always slackers."

Keith was taken aback. "He did? How'd he do _that_?"

Maryk chuckled. "Willie, you missed one of the highlights of the trial. Challee was grilling Meatball about the captain's strictness, trying to make Meatball look like a complainer, and trying to make it look like the captain was just trying to make good sailors out of his crew. When it came Barney's turn to ask questions, he asked Meatball about the service stars on his uniform, and asked him what they represent. And Meatball rattled off that he had been in some of the biggest naval engagements of the war: Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal. You could actually see the members of the court sit up and take notice!"

Keith grinned, then turned serious. "Did Meatball mention Kwajalein?"

"No, he didn't, and now that you mention it, that seems like a rather strange omission," Maryk said.

"There's a reason he didn't mention Kwajalein; Barney Greenwald wouldn't let him," Neuhow explained. "Barney cut him off with a curt 'That's all' before it could be mentioned. Which was probably a good thing, since the _Caine_ 's performance at Kwajalein was very troubling to the court. Barney didn't want to give the impression that the _Caine_ 's performance in the other engagements was in any way similar to Kwajalein, because it wasn't."

"No, it most certainly wasn't," Maryk agreed sourly. "I was with the _Caine_ during those other engagements. They were far hairier for the _Caine_ than Kwajalein, but the men of the _Caine_ really showed their mettle, where it counted. At Kwajalein, it was a different story."

"The court felt that Kwajalein was the incident that had, shall we say, the greatest bearing on the captain's mental state."

"Bearing on mental state," Maryk repeated, somewhat amused. "That's an interesting choice of words. Mark, since you have talked to the members of the court, what did they make of Queeg rolling those metal ball bearings in his hand during the trial?"

Neuhow retrieved a file from a case and opened it. "I'll tell you."

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

The captain had some nervous tics, no doubt about it. But that's normal. Some guys smoke, some guys fidget with a pencil, some guys drum their fingers, some guys hum songs. Queeg rolled metal balls in his hand. I once knew a guy who used to do the same thing, except he used dice, so what's the deal? So I probably would have thought nothing about what Queeg did; except that somebody, I can't remember who, asked one of the psychiatrists about it, and he thought it represented Queeg fondling his nuts or handling turds or some such damn-fool thing.

* * *

"What!?" Keith broke into a smile. "Was that part of the trial testimony?"

"Yes, it was," Maryk confirmed soberly. "Some members of the court actually laughed when it was said."

"That testimony helped your case, Steve," Neuhow said, and he read some more from the same document.

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

I never trusted the psychiatrists. Part of the reason was the testimony about turds. It made me wonder: Do they actually teach that stuff in Psychiatry school?

I also didn't trust these eggheads because, well, the psychiatrists were all smart, but not a damn one was a real Navy man. They were smart, but not knowledgeable, if that makes any sense to you. Not a damn one of them had any sea duty, not a damn one of them knew beans about the stresses that a ship's captain faces in a time of war. Christ, they kept trying to compare the role of a captain fighting a war to the role of a business executive trying to make more money. I don't see the two roles as similar at all. There are things businessmen can get away with that ships' captains can't, and vice versa. And I don't see how being captain of a business is in any way related to being captain of a Navy warship.

I'd like to see one of these fat cat business executives on the deck of a DMS that's hunting a sub or getting strafed by enemy aircraft or being straddled by fire from a shore battery, and see how far his business savvy gets him.

Maryk's lawyer pointed this out, saying that it had to be officers who actually served at sea, not psychiatrists, to judge the captain's fitness. I agreed with that argument, a hundred percent.

* * *

Keith seemed amused, but Maryk was not. "Did you ever ask Captain Queeg about the little metal balls?" Maryk asked.

"Yes, I did." Neuhow returned his file to one case, then retrieved a much heftier file from another case. He thumbed through the papers until he found a particular document.

* * *

 **Queeg**

Oh, the steel balls, there's not much to that. Before I joined the Navy, I smoked like a chimney, and I found it was affecting my wind, so I wanted to quit. But quitting is hard, let me tell you. If I couldn't quit, I wanted at least to cut down. After all, you can't smoke aboard a Navy ship anytime you want, and I knew I was going to have to do _something_ when I got the urge. It seemed to me as though, when the pressure was on, that was when the urge was the worst, and the time when the urge was the worst was usually the time when smoking is out of the question.

Anyway, there was one of the men, a Signalman Striker, I believe, who saw that I was having trouble, and he recommended to me that, every time I get the urge to smoke, that I roll a couple of ball bearings in my hand, just to give my hand something to do, instead of holding a cigarette. He said it worked for him. So I tried it, and I'll be damned, it worked for me. I haven't really smoked heavily for quite a while, and I have cut down. I still smoke occasionally; I don't puff away every chance I get, like I used to do. The urge to smoke hasn't really gone away, but I know what to do when I feel it coming on.

* * *

Neuhow closed the file. "Elsewhere, Captain Queeg admitted to me that he felt under pressure during the trial, and that he needed the steel balls to help him steady his hands and control his desire for tobacco."

"Did Captain Queeg know about the testimony at trial about his ball-rolling habit?" Willie wondered. "Did he know that people were saying that the ball-rolling meant... something else?"

"He didn't hear everything they said about him at the trial, no. He was confident that the psychiatrists were in his corner. He knew that they weren't going to proclaim him infallible, and he was comfortable with that. He knew they were going to brand him as a perfectionist, but he thought that would be a point in his favor."

Maryk sighed. "Is that Queeg's file? I think I'd really like to hear what else Captain Queeg told you."

Neuhow hefted the file. "He told me quite a lot. Is there anything that you're especially interested in?"

"Yes. I would have bet that he wouldn't want to talk to you. Yet he did."

"It took some doing to convince him," Neuhow admitted. "I had to show him that I was devoted to letting Queeg tell his story in the way he thought it should be told. As you may know, the stories about the _Caine_ told by others made the two of you out to be mutineers, but they made Queeg out to be a dunce or a tyrant. Like the two of you, Queeg wanted a chance to say what he thought really happened from his point of view."

"Does he have any hard feelings?" Maryk wondered. "He said at trial he didn't, but I didn't really believe him. And after I got acquitted, I would have expected him to be very bitter."

Neuhow thumbed through the file until he found what he was looking for, then began to read.

* * *

 **Queeg**

I testified that I bore no grudges. That was true then, and it is true now.

The court, by voting the way they did, by voting as quickly as they did: they stung me more than Steve ever did. But I don't bear any grudges against them, either.

For that matter, I don't carry grudges against the Japanese or the Germans.

Carry around grudges, and they'll wind up killing you. I've always thought that.

What I'm trying to say is: I don't hate Steve Maryk. People must feel pretty sure I do, but I don't, 'kay?

Steve was, I've always thought, a decent fellow. I felt that way from the moment I first met him. He worked hard, and he tried hard. But he had some character traits that I found most bothersome. The _Caine_ was, to put it one way, far from the best ship in this man's Navy. And one of Steve's flaws was that he was so used to the slackness that seemed to be everywhere. He was used to it; and it seemed to me he didn't know how to change it; nor did he _want_ to change it. Every time I gave an order about bringing the ship more in line with the Navy I know and love, Maryk opposed what I was trying to do. He was respectful about it; he'd say that the crew wasn't used to that kind of thing; but goddamn it, I wish he'd just have said, 'Yes, sir,' and done what I told him to do.

* * *

Neuhow looked at Maryk. "This may seem at odds with how Queeg testified at trial. I asked Queeg whether he had any regrets about calling you 'disloyal' and 'unreliable' in his trial testimony. This is what he said."

* * *

 **Queeg**

No, not really. I meant every word, but I realize now that my language was hard and could be misunderstood.

From the very first day, I made it clear that we were going to operate 'by the book.' That was the way I wanted things done, and I made a point of saying that I wanted things done _my_ way. But from the start, my own officers, many of them anyway, questioned my orders, and did so in front of other officers and sometimes the crew. And too often they didn't carry out my orders in the way they knew that I wanted. To a ship's captain, those things can be like knives in the back. They _are_ a kind of disloyalty. They _are_ a kind of unreliability.

And I know what you're going to ask, why, if I thought Steve had such flaws, did I give him such good fitness reports? You know, I never got to explain that during the trial. It was because Steve had aspirations to see more of the war than he was seeing aboard the _Caine_ , and I understood his point of view, and I was willing to help him. We both believed good fitness reports would give Steve his best chance. So I emphasized the positives. His performance _had_ improved. He _was_ showing greater attention to his duties. None of what I wrote was untrue. Let me repeat, I liked Steve personally; but when his lawyer pulled out those fitness reports to try to make me look like a liar, I got pretty hot. But I recognize that wasn't Steve's doing; it was his lawyer.

* * *

Neuhow put away his notes. "I'm going to stop there. Queeg had more to say about that aspect of cross-examination, but it has less to do with Barney's trial tactics, and more to do with his Jewishness. And those things are not really pertinent. But let me ask you this, Steve: Queeg made a number of assertions about your questioning of his orders, your reluctance to try to change the _Caine_ , a desire you expressed to Queeg to see more action. What do you have to say about those things?"

Maryk was somber. "I don't take issue with any word you read, it pains me to say. With the benefit of hindsight, Queeg's point of view makes more sense to me today than it did at the time."


	10. The Private Meeting

10\. The Private Meeting

"Speaking of my fitness reports," Maryk wondered, "did you ask Queeg about the meeting he and I had after the typhoon, as we steamed to San Francisco?"

"Yes," Neuhow responded. "That is, he told me about it. I didn't ask him about it. He volunteered to tell me about it."

"What meeting was that?" Keith asked.

"Well, let me tell you all about it, Willie," Maryk sighed. "After the excitement was all over, with the typhoon settling down and all those rescued sailors taken care of, Captain Queeg called me to his cabin and asked me to sit down. He was surprisingly calm and pleasant. He told me that he _could_ bring charges against me, but that doing so wouldn't do anyone any good. Regardless of the outcome, both of our careers would be ruined, he said. He offered to let the thing be forgotten. He'd write up a good fitness report for me and approve a transfer. He said he'd downplay the events of the typhoon, and explain that everybody just had too much pressure, that's all it was."

"Jesus, Steve, did you say 'no' to that? You could have avoided... everything."

Maryk spoke with a note of sadness. "I said 'no.' Queeg demanded that I apologize, and the notion of me apologizing sort of stuck in my craw, because if I apologized, I would be confessing my guilt, and I wasn't sure I was willing to do that. It had nothing to do with saving my neck, and had everything to do with the fact that I thought I'd done the right thing, and I didn't want to say that I hadn't. Nevertheless, I seriously considered apologizing, if that would have ended it."

Maryk paused and took a breath. "But I didn't think that _would_ end it. It seemed to me the captain wanted me to do things I just _didn't_ think I could do, such as to submit a false report, or alter the logs of the incident. That was, in effect, what the captain was asking me to do. And the captain wouldn't just be asking me to do it, he'd be asking you and all of the other officers to pretty much go along with it. And I just didn't see how I could go along with it, and I sure didn't see everyone else going along with it. Word was going to get out, if it hadn't gotten out already, that I had relieved the captain. I mean, some of those sailors we pulled out of the sea and offloaded onto other ships, they'd gotten word of what I'd done. Maybe Queeg would have been true to his promise, that he'd forgive and forget; but I couldn't see how _the Navy_ would forgive and forget. At a minimum, there'd be an investigation, and I might wind up on trial anyway, and be accused of trying to cover up my offense on top of that. For me, the deciding consideration was that I simply could not submit a false report to the Navy; and I could not expunge or change or otherwise alter events as recorded in the OOD's log or the quartermaster's log. Especially since I as commanding officer had already signed the OOD's log."

"What did the captain says about the logs?" Neuhow asked. "Do you remember what words he used?"

Maryk thought a moment. "He said, quote, 'There are ways of dealing with logs,' unquote, but he didn't elaborate on what those ideas were. Anyway, I thanked the captain for his offer, and told the captain that I couldn't hide from what I'd done."

"Jesus," Keith gasped. "What did Queeg say in response?"

Maryk cleared his throat. "He became... more emotional. He pleaded with me, 'Mr. Maryk, please reconsider.' He said that there had never been a mutiny aboard any ship of the United States Navy. If I didn't reconsider, it would be bad for Queeg, bad for me, and worst of all, bad for the Navy. He could barely get out the words."

"Steve, are you saying that the captain was crying?"

"No. But he was emotional, more emotional than I'd ever seen him. I really didn't know what to say. All I remember is that I said I had to own up to what I'd done. The captain just sat there for a long time, he wouldn't even look at me, then he dismissed me. A short time later, he wrote up a fitness report for me. It was blistering. He asked me whether I had any comment about it, and as I started to respond, he said, 'Everything I wrote is true; I'll note any protests you have, but I won't change a word."

"Pretty much the same thing happened to me," Keith said sourly. "Steve, did you testify about that secret meeting at trial?"

"No. Barney knew about it but he never asked about it. He never asked me, and he never asked Queeg, either. Probably just as well. There were no witnesses to it, and Queeg would deny he did anything improper. He might have even denied that the meeting happened at all."

Neuhow listened and made a few notes. He found some sheets in the oversized file and pulled them out. "Would you like to hear Queeg's version of the events?"

* * *

 **Queeg**

As I recall, it was just as we encountered the capsized hull of another ship, that I once again formally directed Steve to relinquish command. He refused and proceeded to explain, but I said, 'To hell with that, let's look for any men in the water and get them out!' I ordered Steve to take charge of the rescue operations. I also ordered Steve to perform certain operations, such as to deploy the cargo nets. In each case, Steve responded to my direction with, 'Thank you, sir, but I was about to give that order.'

We didn't save very many men, but those who we pulled out of the sea probably owed their lives to Steve Maryk. At least one sailor owes his life to Willie Keith, if I remember right. Keith spotted a sailor in the water, and we were able to rescue that fellow. Some of these guys needed medical attention, so we got them over to another ship that was participating in the rescue; that ship had a doctor aboard.

After the rescue operation was concluded, I called Steve to my cabin. What I'm about to tell you is something that nobody else knows, except Steve. Steve probably thought I was going to demand he relinquish command, then place him under arrest, and throw him in irons. But I didn't. I told him that there had never been a mutiny aboard any modern Navy ship, and I didn't want to have anything to do with what might become the first such incident. It would be bad for the both of us, but worst of all, it would be bad for the Navy.

So I said to Steve, 'Steve, as far as I'm concerned, there wasn't any mutiny. There wasn't any actual relieving the captain of command. There was simply a misunderstanding. We were all very tense. We were all very concerned about the well-being of the ship. We didn't handle things in the best way. But no harm has been done. What I think we ought to do is recognize that there was a grave misunderstanding.'

I was trying to save the reputation of the Navy, more than anything, 'kay?

As I told you, Steve wanted to get closer to the war. I told him that I would help him to do that, that I would write him a good recommendation, and would help him get a transfer off the _Caine_.

* * *

Maryk made an indifferent gesture. "I remember things a little differently. But that's pretty close to how I remember it. I noticed Queeg left out the part where he demanded an apology, and he left out the fact that he had told me that there are ways to deal with ship's logs. Oh, and a minor point: he called me 'Mr. Maryk.' Not 'Steve.'"

"Okay," Neuhow said as he made a few notes. "Let me read what Queeg said next."

* * *

 **Queeg**

But Steve wouldn't listen to reason. I was totally at a loss as to why. I was offering him a way out, I was offering him a way to save his reputation and the reputation of the Navy. But Steve wouldn't have it. Instead, he started to become blubbery, said he was sorry, said he wished it had never happened.

* * *

"Untrue!" Maryk interrupted, his face flushed. "I said no such things! And if anyone got blubbery, it was the captain! The nerve of him!"

Neuhow furiously scribbled notes.

"I _never_ said I was sorry," Maryk stood up as he continued ranting. "The captain demanded that I do so, but I told him that I thought I had no choice, that I was doing my duty! The nerve of Queeg, saying that, when he knows that it would just be his word against mine!"

Maryk began stalking around the room. Keith looked at Neuhow. "Mark, whose version of the events are you going to report? Steve's or Queeg's? Or maybe both?"

Neuhow looked solemn. "I've encountered things like this before, where two witnesses adamantly disagree about an event. Usually, what I've done is that I report those aspects with which there is agreement among the participants, and agreement with the established facts. So in this instance, I might mention that the captain and Steve talked, and that they explored whether there was any way to protect the reputation of the Navy, but in the end, they couldn't come to an understanding. As for who got more emotional, if anyone, that really doesn't matter."

Maryk faced Neuhow. Maryk seemed to have calmed himself a bit. "Mark, that business about me becoming blubbery, that is bunk. Complete bunk. I do remember that when the captain demanded that I return command to him, I said, 'I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot do that.' That was no apology for taking command. Now, I don't remember saying so, but I _might have_ said to the captain that I was sorry that this business happened, and I _might have_ said that I wished it had never happened. But I did not apologize to Queeg for what I did, no, sir. That's it."

"Okay," was all Neuhow had to say.

Maryk looked for a few moments at the Manhattan skyline, then took his seat again. Presently, he asked, "Was that all Queeg had to say about our meeting?"

"No. Do you want to hear the rest?"

"I think I'd better."

"All right."

* * *

 **Queeg**

I tried reasoning with him a little more, but he didn't seem to hear me. Maybe he had gotten so used to opposing me, that he didn't realize that I was trying to help him.

I felt very sorry for Steve. He made a terrible mistake and he wouldn't let me help him, so he was going to have to pay for it. So I told Steve, 'Take a minute or two and think about it.' I had hoped he'd offer some way out of the mess he was in, but he didn't.

After we'd sat in silence for about two minutes, I realized neither one of us was going to budge. So I said, ''Kay. Dismissed.'

* * *

"Nope," Maryk remarked with a note of bitterness. "That's not what happened. Queeg told me I'd made a mistake, but he didn't 'reason' with me, by any stretch. This 'take a minute or two to think about things,' he never said that. He just sat there for a long time with his eyes lowered, until he told me I was dismissed."

"Steve," Neuhow spoke slowly, "I want you to understand that people don't always see or recall things the same way. It doesn't mean that one of them is lying. It just means that they remember things differently, or saw things differently."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Maryk muttered.

"I mention that," said Neuhow, "because there are some other places where the stories diverge rather substantially."

Maryk raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

"Kwajalein. The Yellowstain incident."


	11. The Tales of the Yellow Stain

11\. The Tales of the Yellow Stain

"Did you talk with Queeg about escort duty at Kwajalein, Mark?" Keith asked.

"Yes, quite a bit." Neuhow consulted his notes. "Most of what Queeg told me was close to his trial testimony."

* * *

 **Queeg**

The _Caine_ 's orders were to escort the landing craft to within a thousand yards of the beach at Jacob. We did that.

Our function was primarily to guide the attack boats, which had limited navigational capability, to the departure point. From the departure point, the boats should have been able to make it on their own. And we were also to supply protection during escort, in that the attack boats would be within range of enemy fire from shore.

And we were taking some enemy fire. Couldn't tell where it was coming from, though, and the situation was complicated by the fact that the landing craft were moving so damn slowly. The _Caine_ was moving about as slow as she could go, but the boats kept falling behind. Willie Keith was in the wheelhouse, and his orders were to keep the _Caine_ moving. He didn't seem to realize that he was outrunning the boats.

* * *

"That's partly true," Keith interrupted. "I was in the wheelhouse, and I thought the boats we were escorting were keeping up with us, until Steve poked his head in and told me the _Caine_ was going too fast."

"That's pretty much right," Maryk agreed. "I could not understand why Queeg let Willie take the conn. Queeg should have been there himself."

"Do you know where the captain was at this time?" Neuhow asked, looking up from his notepad.

Willie shook his head.

So did Maryk. "I didn't see him. But the men said that they saw him on the side of the ship away from enemy fire, and some said he was quivering with fear. Did anyone else tell you that?"

"Yes, quite a few men were eyewitnesses and they mentioned it. Some of them thought it looked like Queeg was afraid of enemy fire, but others thought Queeg seemed to be concerned about the boats and where the enemy fire was coming from. And some of them said that he wasn't shaking with fear, he was shaking with anger. One man said that Queeg snarled, 'Those bastards need to keep up!' Another quoted the captain as saying, 'We're going to get our asses shot off if they don't get moving!'"

"I didn't hear that from any of the men I talked to," Maryk said. "They all said the captain was trying to protect himself from enemy fire."

"And indeed that is what most of the men who talked to me said as well. _Most_ , but _not all_. Would you like to hear what Queeg had to say?"

Maryk was droll. "I'm certain I'll find it interesting."

* * *

 **Queeg**

Those damn landing boats were taking their sweet time. As I said, we were taking fire; not heavy, but we were taking it, and it was going to get worse the closer we got to the beach. The best thing to do is to keep moving. But we couldn't, because those damn landing boats were so damn slow. I observed some of the other groups of boats, and they didn't seem to be moving as slow as our group.

Willie Keith even ordered an all-stop to allow the boats to catch up. That made me hot. We were lucky that the enemy didn't take that opportunity to zero in on us.

The boats caught up, and I heard Steve call to them to tell them to keep up, but again the boats couldn't keep up. I admit I was pretty angry about that. I know now that it was not the fault of those men in the boats, but other groups seemed to be keeping up with their escorts.

* * *

Neuhow looked up. "I brought up the issue of where Queeg was on the _Caine_ during this time."

* * *

 **Queeg**

I was all over the ship: spotting the other groups, spotting enemy fire, spotting the boats we escorted, spotting for mines. I also thought I might have spotted enemy submarine activity, and given the _Caine_ 's position and slow speed, she would have been vulnerable to a torpedo. We hadn't been advised of any submarine activity near our position, but I felt I ought to look for submarines anyway, especially since that was one reason we had been made a part of this campaign in the first place. I did a lot of that [submarine spotting] when I was in the North Atlantic, and there were plenty of times in the Atlantic when we thought there would be no submarine activity, and then we'd see a torpedo in the water or hear a ship blow up. You can never assume that there are no enemy submarines.

* * *

"Queeg was actually dumbfounded that any of the officers or men would deem what he did at that time to be cowardice," Neuhow added. "He learned, shortly before trial, that stories had been circulated on the _Caine_ that he had been hiding from enemy fire. He considered those stories to be malicious slander."

Keith: "Did you say that Queeg said he thought he'd actually _carried out_ his orders to escort the landing craft to within a thousand yards?"

"Yes. He said he'd done what he'd been ordered to do. He said so at trial as well, when Challee asked him about it."

"Nearly everyone else on the _Caine_ testified that the _Caine_ never got close to a thousand yards," Maryk said. "Queeg ordered the turn way too soon. Queeg was the only one who told a different story. And his story included a few details that took me by surprise, I have to say."

Neuhow produced a bound volume of pages from one of his cases. "This is Captain Queeg's testimony at trial. Willie, I don't know if you've heard this."

* * *

 **Testimony of Lt. Commander Phillip F. Queeg**

Q: [by Mr. Challee] How far were you from the beach when you ordered the Caine to make this turn?

A: The shoreline was about four thousand yards away, if I remember correctly, but the position of the shoreline varies with the tide. The beach was much closer.

Q: Explain for the Court what you mean, the beach was much closer.

A: I mean that the area in which the Caine operated had shallows that extended from the shoreline. If we came within a thousand yards of the shoreline, we'd wind up running aground, and the Caine would be a sitting duck. When we got within a thousand yards of the shallows, that is, the beach, I ordered the turn.

Q: Please remind the Court: what was the turning diameter of the Caine?

A: A thousand yards, sirs. The Caine could not turn on a dime the way the newer destroyer escorts can.

Q: How did you know the Caine was within a thousand yards of the beach when you ordered the turn?

A: I read the instruments and verified the distance myself.

Q: By the instruments, you mean what?

A: I mean an alidade, with measurements made with respect to a landmark, which I believe was Roi Island. I feel I should also mention that I felt it important to take into consideration set and drift along the line of bearing, in addition to the distance needed for the ship to turn. Upon taking the measurements and upon taking those other factors into account, I determined we had reached the line of departure, and I ordered the turn.

Q: Tell the Court, if you know, whether the Caine was the first escort vessel to make such a turn.

A: The Caine most certainly was not the first vessel to turn. I observed at least four other escort vessels retiring prior to my giving the order for the Caine to turn.

* * *

Keith seemed to go pale. "Was that true? The _Caine_ really _didn't_ turn too early?"

Neuhow once again fished a folder out of a case. "One member of the court felt this way."

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

To hear that the _Caine_ had to contend with shallows, that seemed unlikely to me, though not entirely impossible. The designated line of departure might have accounted for any shallows, as would the designated cutoff tangent on Roi Island.

Most troubling to me was that Queeg's testimony didn't get backed up by any of his men. Not a one. They all knew what their orders were. They all had some sense of how much further they had to go. And they all swore that the turn was premature.

And sweet Jesus, you could _see_ it in the men's faces when they testified. That trial transcript you're holding there doesn't reflect how those men looked. They were ashamed, no question about it. They all knew they'd turned way too early and they felt like cowards for abandoning those men in the landing boats.

All of us on the court were really bothered by this. There seemed to be no question that Queeg had ordered his vessel to turn too early. I can understand how he was frustrated by the landing craft being slow, but that's no excuse.

* * *

Neuhow closed the folder. "You know what happened next, after the captain ordered the turn."

"You bet I do," Maryk nodded. "The captain ordered that a dye marker be thrown overboard to mark the departure point. Then the _Caine_ turned tail and left. I never learned whether those men made it to the island or not."

Neuhow pursed his lips. "As it happened, Steve, they _all_ made it to the island, exactly where they were supposed to. There was a general consensus that the men in the boats were mad as hell that the _Caine_ ditched them so that they had to make the rest of the way on their own; but there was also general consensus that the _Caine_ 's departure seemed to have one beneficial effect: enemy fire in their direction all but ceased. In fact, they took no appreciable enemy fire until they reached the beach. Some of the men in the boats who had been cursing the _Caine_ for leaving changed their minds and started singing her praises, saying that the captain must have realized he was doing more harm than good and got the hell away. Of course, once they got ashore, the men had to face enemy fire. Five died fighting and about twice that many got wounded. But every single man made it to the beach safely, without so much as a scratch."

"I didn't know that," Maryk said meekly.

"Lucky for you, neither did the court," Neuhow smiled. "They all assumed that the landing craft got lost or shot up, and that made them angry." Neuhow found another document, and read.

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

It was the testimony about Kwajalein that first swayed me. Captain Queeg was under pressure, and he cracked. He saved the _Caine_ and left those Marines in the boats with no cover and almost no navigational guidance. Queeg wouldn't admit it, tried to rationalize the whole thing, but clearly that's what happened. And Maryk saw it. And during the typhoon, Queeg was under pressure again, and Maryk thought Queeg was cracking again. Which he probably was.

And then in the courtroom, when Greenwald cross-examined Queeg, he put him under pressure, and Queeg cracked again right in front of our eyes. At that point, I saw no possible vote but acquittal.

This was quite a turn-around for me. I went into the trial thinking that I couldn't see any way that I could possibly vote to acquit. But by the end, I couldn't see any way _not_ to vote to acquit.

Some of the other testimony was consistent with Queeg being unbalanced, too. The strawberries business in particular struck me as being very, very strange, and I can see how that might seem to be an indication of mental incapacity. But Queeg's performance while doing escort duty at Kwajalein was much more troubling. How could it _not_ be just naked cowardice under fire? In the trial, Greenwald said something that made me think. He said that it was not the defense's contention that Queeg was a coward. Quite the contrary: the defense assumes that no man who rises to command a ship in the Navy could possibly _be_ a coward; and if he commits questionable acts under fire, the cause must be elsewhere.

Those words really stuck with me. There was nothing in Queeg's record indicative of cowardice. If it wasn't cowardice, what could it possibly be? I kept coming back to what seemed to be the only explanation: the captain was not mentally capable of command, when the pressure was on.

* * *

"After the trial," Keith said soberly, "Barney pointed out to us that after we saw the captain crack during escort duty, we could have supported him, but we didn't. He asked us whether we could help one another. And none of us stepped up to say a word of support."

"And I know why," Maryk said. "We all felt ashamed. Looking back on it now, I wish I had spoken up in defense of the captain. I'd previously spoken to other officers in his defense, but I'd never expressed my support to the captain in his presence. After the Yellowstain business, it seemed to me that it wasn't the time; I couldn't bring myself to say anything. After the trial, Barney put the question to me, asking if we'd supported Queeg, would he have cracked during the typhoon? And I felt that if Queeg felt he had the support of his officers, it probably wouldn't have necessary to relieve him, and I said so. Thinking back on it, saying some words of support might not only have helped Queeg cope, it might have helped some of the other officers cope as well. It looked to me like they were feeling pretty low."

Neuhow quietly made notes, then put down his pencil and quickly found two other files. He thumbed through one of the files until he found a particular document. "You may find it interesting what Mr. Paynter and Mr. Rabbit had to say. First, Paynter." Neuhow read aloud:

* * *

 **Paynter**

The captain called us all together in the wardroom and tried to tell us all to support each other, and help each other. I couldn't tell whether he was trying to apologize or not. Captain Queeg wasn't with us at Midway or Coral Sea. He didn't know how the men of the _Caine_ felt about doing the tough jobs when they had to. For the _Caine_ to turn tail like that at Kwajalein, it was painful. And then for Queeg to say what he said, it was the most pathetic thing I've ever witnessed. Nauseating, really. It made me want to vomit. Even thinking of it now makes me sick. I'm telling you, right now, I feel physically ill.

* * *

"After saying this," Neuhow looked at Maryk and Keith, "Mr. Paynter excused himself so that he could go to the head to throw up." Neuhow then found another document in another folder. "This is what Rabbit had to say."

* * *

 **Rabbit**

This get-together with the captain after our escort duty was the lowest of the low points for me aboard the _Caine_. I can hardly bring myself to talk about it. I'd seen some action aboard the _Caine_ under Captain De Vriess, and I can tell you that the _Caine_ may not have been the most shipshape ship, but she was no weak sister when it came to combat. I was so humiliated by what we'd done at Kwajalein that, in all honesty, I even considered going over the side. Even today, I have to force myself not to dwell on what happened.

* * *

Maryk and Keith were appalled. "I knew everyone took it hard, but I had no idea they took it _this_ hard," Maryk remarked.

Neuhow found another document. "This is Mr. Rabbit again."

* * *

 **Rabbit**

After Steve Maryk relieved the captain, we were all told what he had done. I almost wanted to break down and cry with joy. After being a part of that disgrace that was the _Caine_ 's performance at Kwajalein, I was privately delighted that it was Queeg's turn to be humiliated.

During the trial, I was asked whether I agreed with what Steve had done. My answer was that my agreement or disagreement didn't mean anything, there was nothing I could do about it either way. And that answer was true enough, but I admit I side-stepped the question. Did I agree with what Steve did? Hell, yes. _Hell, yes!_

* * *

"But you know, Steve," Keith said, "I've given some thought to whether Barney was right, that we should have supported Queeg. And do you know what? I just don't see how we could have. After what happened, how could any of us give a word of support? We _knew_ we _looked_ like cowards. How could we say we supported what Queeg had done? How could we say he'd done the right thing? I don't know that I could ever live with myself if I had done that."

"That wasn't all of what Barney said, Willie," Maryk reminded Keith. "Barney didn't say we had to approve what the captain did, just that we had to tell him that we were still on his side. But we didn't even offer a single word of encouragement, not one word of loyalty. And Barney was right, a lot of us started adopting outright disrespectful attitudes, making up the Yellowstain song and referring to the captain as a pants-wetter and a madman. We shouldn't have done that."

"Mark," Keith faced Neuhow, "did you talk with Queeg about his little speech in the wardroom? What did he we expect from us? Anything?"

Neuhow found a particular page in his notes and read.

* * *

 **Queeg**

After the escort, I could see that tails were drooping. I could see that they thought the _Caine_ did not perform as well as she should have, that even though she did her job, she could have done more than she did, and that the men in the boats might have a tough time getting ashore. I decided to talk to the officers.

I'm not one for giving speeches or pep talks. When I was a lowly ensign, my first captain was really good at doing that sort of thing, but I knew I wasn't. I honestly didn't know what I wanted to say, and I'm not sure I can even remember what I _did_ say. I do remember that I didn't want to blame the men in the boats for being so damned slow. I also do remember that I didn't want to yell at my officers or give any orders. I wanted to talk to them man-to-man.

You quoted some of the men saying that I talked about my dog, and though I don't remember doing that, I don't deny it, either. You quoted some of the other men as saying that I was apologizing. I don't know how they came to that conclusion, since I can say without a doubt that that is not what was said.

I do remember trying to get across the idea that we were all working toward defeating the Japanese, and that we had to work together to do it. I think I may have said that we did our job and we had more work ahead of us, and it wasn't going to be easy. More than anything, I remember having an excruciating headache at the time.

The officers just sat there. Like a row of kewpie dolls. They didn't say a word.

I couldn't blame them. My speech was awful. I wanted to lift their spirits, but I failed miserably, and I knew it. I told the men that I was open to comments or suggestions as to how we could improve things, and then I went to my cabin to lie down.

* * *

Maryk and Keith looked at one another. "At least he's honest in saying that he doesn't remember what he said," Keith commented. "Because the things he thinks he said, he didn't say."

"Both of you talked to me during our first stage about this meeting," Neuhow said. "Do you have anything to add?"

Maryk and Keith silently shook their heads.

Neuhow went on. "I asked Queeg whether he thought Maryk should have done anything in response to what was said. I should tell you that, when I read what Queeg's response was, that he was smiling very kindly. What he said was not out of bitterness."

* * *

 **Queeg**

No, there was nothing Steve could do. It was my job to try to say my piece. If Steve had spoken up, he would've probably said something intelligent, which would have made me look like more of a dunce than I already did.

* * *

"Looks like Barney was wrong," Keith intoned. "Queeg didn't think he was asking for our loyalty."

"No, I think Barney pegged it right," Maryk responded. "Queeg was taking it all on himself. Would it have made a difference if I'd simply said something? Maybe I could have said, 'We're all in this together, sir,' or 'The captain is right when he says we need to help each other.' This wouldn't endorse what he did, but it would be something. Would it have made a difference in the typhoon, though? I don't think I'll ever know."

Neuhow began thumbing through his notes. "There are two things I'd like to read to you. First, from Barney Greenwald."

* * *

 **Greenwald**

I was drunk when I confronted Steve and the other men of the _Caine_ [at the post-acquittal party], I admit it. I remember accusing them of not being loyal enough to Queeg, who, unlike them, had stood up to the Nazis. Later, I thought I was too hard on them, too hard on Steve in particular. Steve did a hell of a lot for Queeg, most of it unappreciated, and I was critical of Steve for not doing _more_. So, now that I'm sober [laughs], I don't see things quite that harshly, at least as to Steve. Steve's honesty was the reason I agreed to represent him in the first place, and after I thought about it, it wasn't fair of me to be critical of Steve for not sacrificing that very honesty for the sake of loyalty to Queeg.

* * *

Neuhow put away those notes and found others. "There was one more thing Queeg had to say on the matter of disrespect."

* * *

 **Queeg**

Some days later, I overheard some of the officers talking, and one of them used the term 'Old Yellowstain.' I thought he was talking about Yellowstone Park in the States, and I thought nothing of it. I never imagined back then that it was a name some of the men had given me.

But when I got to San Francisco, one of the psychiatrists asked me what I thought of being called 'Old Yellowstain.' That was the first time I understood that this moniker had been pinned on me, and I figured out pretty damn quick that it is implied cowardice. I told the doctor, honestly, that no one used that term in my presence, that I would have disciplined anyone who did, and that I did not have any idea why that name would be given to me.

The psychiatrist also asked how I felt about the being blamed for everything that went wrong aboard the _Caine_. He seemed to assume that I already knew that I was being blamed for everything. He asked how I felt about the men thinking more highly of Steve Maryk than they thought of me.

As he asked these questions, I kept my temper and answered honestly. But it was pretty clear to me that he wasn't asking these questions in order to rile me up. He was asking these questions because he'd learned from the investigators that disrespect for the captain of the _Caine_ was widespread, and that he assumed that I knew it, and he was wondering how I handled it.

Steve must have known that this was going on. He should have put a stop to it.

* * *

"As I testified at the trial," Maryk said, "I tried to do that very thing."


	12. The Verdict and the Secret Log

12\. The Verdict and the Secret Log

"As was mentioned earlier, Kwajalein had a tremendous effect on the court," Neuhow said as he retrieved some additional notes. "More than any other event in Queeg's history, no question. At a minimum, Queeg failed to demonstrate proper leadership, and the court thought it likely that he had cracked under pressure, and was showing severe impairment of judgment. They simply couldn't ignore the fact that he had ordered the _Caine_ to turn far too soon. They couldn't ignore the fact that he had left the boats he was escorting too far away and unprotected." Neuhow read aloud:

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

There was a point near the end of the trial where Greenwald asked Queeg, 'Did your orders include dropping a yellow dye marker?' Queeg said, 'I don't remember' or 'I don't recall.' Well, that testimony stunk, because he talked about his orders in some detail under questioning from Challee. Besides, he must have _known_ that we'd know what his orders were, and that there wasn't anything in there about dropping a dye marker. So why say 'I don't remember' to us? Why not simply answer truthfully, 'No, there was nothing in the orders about that,' why not just admit it?

And then Greenwald asked something like, 'Orders or not, _did_ you drop a dye marker?' And again Queeg said, 'I don't recall.' Well, Christ, how could it possibly be that every other man on that vessel saw that spreading yellow patch, but the captain didn't? After those two questions and answers, I had serious doubts about Queeg's credibility.

Queeg's testimony was that the boats were slow, but that he got them to the departure point. Well, if that were so, why drop the dye marker? Why drop a marker to show where the departure point is, if the boats were already there? This didn't make sense to me. Again, this cast doubt upon Queeg's credibility.

And then, the marker gets dropped too far away, not at the designated... I just... I don't know.

If I recall correctly, Queeg had a pretty good record with the Navy. He'd been in some hairy situations, even taken a torpedo attack or two in the North Atlantic. But at Kwajalein, for some reason, his judgment deserted him. He wanted to get the _Caine_ the hell out of there, and he rationalized it somehow, and I'm sure he would swear with his hand to heaven that what he did was not an act of cowardice. But, that business about being worried that the _Caine_ would get beached. What malarkey!

Goddamn, he at least had to be aware that what he did sure as hell _looked_ like an act of cowardice. The fact that the dye marker was _yellow_ seemed to underscore the whole thing. The _Caine_ wet herself and ran off.

* * *

"It should come as no surprise," Neuhow droned as he put one file away and retrieved another in its place, "that Queeg took issue with what I just read."

* * *

 **Queeg**

This was not an act of cowardice on my part, absolutely not. That is a lie, and I would call anyone who said I was a coward a liar. I would say it to his face!

Those men in the boats that we were escorting, they were dogging it, moving so slowly to that beach. But I would _never_ suggest that _they_ were cowards, never! What I will say, which is what I said at the trial, is that the _Caine_ did her job to make it to the departure point by H-hour, and the boys in the boats were not doing theirs. And, as I testified, we were not too far ahead of the boats when I gave the order to turn, we were not 'a mile ahead,' as I've heard it was said! And we did not turn early! We had to turn when we did, to avoid running aground.

And why drop the dye marker? To mark the departure point, of course! To tell the men in the boats that they had reached it!

Whoever that man was who said the concern about being beached was malarkey, well, it wasn't! A lot of other ships' captains were worried about the same thing!

He says that it looked like an act of cowardice. I dispute that. It most certainly did not. Did he think I ordered dropping a _yellow_ dye marker because I wanted to _announce_ our cowardice? _That_ would be malarkey!

And one more thing. All those on board the _Caine_ who said that we turned tail and showed our backsides to the enemy: well, let's just say they sang a different tune on the day in question. They were worried as hell that our escort was slowing us down, and they were all pretty damn glad as can be when I gave the order to depart the area.

* * *

Maryk shook his head. "He still doesn't think he did anything wrong."

"He's certainly wrong about how the men felt," Keith added. "They were worried about being under fire, sure; and they were a bit irritated that the boats we were escorting couldn't seem to keep up. But they didn't want to abandon those men in the boats. They knew that those men in the boats would call the men of the _Caine_ 'cowards' for leaving them too soon."

Neuhow smirked. "As I said, that isn't how it turned out. Many were actually glad that the _Caine_ turned tail."

"I guess I'm glad that none of those men were around to testify at the trial," Maryk muttered.

"It might not have made any difference if they did testify," Neuhow answered. "As one member of the court said to me, and I'm paraphrasing: saying 'It all worked out for the best' is no excuse for failing to follow orders. And Queeg didn't follow orders. The _Caine_ retired too early. At a minimum, the captain showed bad judgment under pressure."

"The captain showed bad judgment even when he wasn't under pressure," Keith muttered.

"But that isn't how Barney played it," Maryk said. "You remember the secret log I kept about the captain's strange behavior? Most of the things I mentioned in there were never brought up at trial. Instead of trying to show that the captain went out of control on a daily basis, Barney wanted to make it look like Queeg lost control when the heat was on."

"Your log was made an exhibit, Steve," Neuhow said, "but apart from occasional references to it during the trial— you bringing the log to Admiral Halsey, for instance— there wasn't much talk about it. At least one member of the court did look at it, however." Neuhow found a file. "Here is what he said."

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

Maryk kept this secret log, documenting some of the things that might show the captain being mentally unbalanced. There wasn't too much testimony about this log at the trial, but after we'd reached our verdict, I thumbed through this log. I expected to see maybe half a dozen incidents. But I found there were far more than that, each of them dated and described in some detail.

The strawberry and key thing was there, and I think the tow line incident might have been mentioned. But there was also this story about boxes, and a story about a movie, and a story about a girlie picture, and a couple of stories about some drills, and a story about a missed salute, and a story about fixing a hole, and on, and on, and on. Each story was bizarre in its own way, and I could not think of any incidents in my own career that were comparable to any of them, and believe me, I've seen some pretty oddball skippers.

As I looked over that log, I saw two overriding themes. One was that Captain Queeg must have been a miserable person to work with, as he seemed to overreact to even the smallest things. And the other was, that with Captain Queeg, everything was always somebody else's fault, even things that were clearly his fault. These things didn't make him mentally unbalanced, but they sure as hell made him a miserable commander.

* * *

Neuhow put the notes away. Maryk and Keith were silent for a few moments after that. Eventually, Maryk spoke. "If what you just read is the case, then Tom Keefer was right: if we had shown the log to Admiral Halsey, he would not have found any mental imbalance. He'd probably think of us as mutineers."

Neuhow squinted. "That's hard to say. Likely, Admiral Halsey would have concluded that your complaints were trivial or captain's prerogative, that Queeg was a poor commander but not mentally unfit. But it's also possible he might have felt differently. I wanted to talk to Admiral Halsey, but he wouldn't speak to me. I did speak to one member of his staff, however." Neuhow retrieved some notes. "Here is what he said."

* * *

 **Anonymous Aide to Admiral Halsey**

I don't know anything about the _Caine_. Neither did the admiral. All I know is that the officer charged with improperly relieving his captain did make an effort to talk to the admiral shortly before the typhoon, but changed his mind at the last minute. Everything I heard about the _Caine_ trial is third- or fourth-hand.

For the admiral to be approached about mental unfitness of a commanding officer, it is unusual, but it has happened. I can think of one incident in particular that occurred a few months before the _Caine_ business. A ship's exec came aboard and reported to Admiral Halsey that his captain was behaving oddly. The admiral ordered that the situation be looked into, and the admiral even thanked the officer for bringing the matter to his attention. Not long afterward, that captain was relieved.

Now, that situation was quite different from what was said to have happened on the _Caine._ As the exec reported it, his captain had suffered a head injury, and after that, his behavior started to become strange. At first it was just trivial matters, but they were out of character for the captain. Also, the captain's behavior seemed to be getting more and more unusual every day. The admiral took the report of a captain's possible unfitness quite seriously and actually did something about it.

* * *

Maryk was dejected. "I can see how the admiral would take the matter seriously if there'd been a head injury; but Queeg had no physical injury. Tom thought the admiral wouldn't believe our story; the things I wrote about could be easily dismissed as little things."

"Maybe." Neuhow fetched the trial transcript. "Sometimes seemingly little things have big consequences. I want to read you something from the trial, and then I want to read you what one of the members of the court said about it. This is the testimony of one of the psychiatrists, Dr. Dickson."

* * *

 **Testimony of Hubert Dickson, M.D.**

Q [by Mr. Challee]: You testified that you administered stress tests to Lt. Commander Queeg, as part of your evaluation?

A: Yes, I did.

Q: And he did well?

A: He did very well, yes. As I said previously, his decisions made under extreme stress were all rational.

Q: Now, you say extreme stress. Would the stress of your tests be comparable to, say, the stress of a battle at sea?

A: No.

Q: Would the stress associated with your tests be comparable to the stress associated with handling a warship during a typhoon?

A: Certainly not. Both the battle and the typhoon situations are life-or-death. The stress levels in life-or-death situations can be much higher than the stress levels in a test administered in a doctor's office.

Q: Then explain to the Court why the tests you administered would have any bearing upon the performance of Lt. Commander Queeg in a life-or-death situation.

A: They are an indicator. Clinical data show that there is a strong correlation between reactions during an office test and reactions in a life-or-death scenario. In other words, empirical data suggest that people who do well in these office tests, where the stakes are low, will also do well in those situations where the stakes are higher. I might add that this correlation has been recognized by the Surgeon General and by the United States Navy.

Q: Doctor.

A: I might also add, excuse me for interrupting, that the converse is true as well. Those who perform poorly in the office tests are very likely to perform poorly when the stakes are higher.

* * *

Neuhow closed the transcript. "That testimony, 'the converse is true,' seems like a little thing, almost an afterthought. But listen to this." Neuhow picked up another file folder, and read.

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

As far as I'm concerned, one of the prosecution's own psychiatrists sunk Queeg, when he said that if Queeg performed poorly on a test where the stakes were low, he would probably perform just as poorly when the stakes were life-and-death. Cross-examination in a courtroom is stressful, to be sure, but it ain't nothing compared to naval combat or a typhoon. I've experienced all three, combat, typhoon and cross-examination, so I'd say I know what I'm talking about. Cross-examination is low-stakes, the others are high-stakes. In cross-examination, all you have to do is tell the goddamned truth, for Christ's sake.

Queeg couldn't handle the cross-examination. I saw him break apart. There was testimony about stolen strawberries and a threat to call some ensign as a witness, who would presumably call Queeg a liar, and Queeg went right around the bend, talking about how everyone was disloyal and liars who were making up malicious stories about him. He recovered himself after a few minutes, but to my mind, the point had been made. Queeg couldn't handle cross-examination. He couldn't think clearly. Put him under duress and he can't control himself. The evidence suggested that Queeg couldn't handle battle at Kwajalein, either. And as far as I was concerned, that sealed it. During the typhoon, Queeg couldn't handle the situation. Queeg couldn't see it, but his men could: once again, he wasn't in control of his faculties. They had reason to believe that the captain was sick and incapable of performing his duties, and Maryk relieved him on that basis.

Let me be absolutely, totally clear about something. _I'm not saying that what Maryk did was right_. What I am saying is, I had some very serious doubts as to Maryk's guilt.

When we [the court] retired to consider the verdict, we all felt the same way. Queeg probably showed signs of cracking during the typhoon. Maryk felt duty-bound to step in. We couldn't send Maryk to the noose based upon evidence like that.

I'd say we reached our decision in less than two minutes. It was unanimous. We spent the next couple of hours talking things over to see whether there was anything we ought to reconsider. But in the end, we were satisfied that the decision we made was the right one, based upon the evidence.

* * *

"Two minutes?" Maryk asked, astonished. "They reached their decision _that_ quickly?"

"Yes. Other members of the court confirmed the verdict was reached quickly, although they thought it was more like five minutes. They then debated for another hour or so, but saw no reason that any other verdict could be supported."

"The strawberry incident was mentioned. Did that have anything to do with the verdict?"

Neuhow searched through the pages in front of him until he found what he was looking for. "Let me read to you what one member of the court said, and I'll just tell you that the other members of the court felt similarly." He read.

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

I'd say that there was one thing Queeg did that was certifiably nuts. He had this delusion about someone on board stealing strawberries. He came up with this bizarre theory about a duplicate key to the icebox, which someone had hidden on board, and he was determined to find that key. He tore the ship apart to look for the key and never found it, but was one hundred percent convinced that this mysterious key existed.

I still cannot comprehend what Queeg must have been thinking.

Hell, I know that it's a captain's right to handle things like this as he sees fit, but stripping everyone naked to look for a key that might not exist? And to do this in the middle of a war? How does that make sense?

When the testimony about the missing strawberries first made an appearance at trial, I couldn't imagine what possible relevance that might have. The kitchen stewards probably ate them. There were just a few berries left, and the mess stewards finished them off. That kind of thing happens, everybody knows it. When I was a ship's captain, I not only knew of it, I actually _approved_ of it; it makes no sense to have a damn-near-empty can of beans or what-have-you taking up space in the wardroom icebox. Let the kitchen staff have what's left and get rid of the empty can.

This was the first incident I'd ever heard in which the captain not only disapproved, but was ready to turn his ship inside-out because of it.

The relevance was clear. The captain wasn't just a martinet. He was unbalanced. No reasonable commander would act this way.

* * *

"Add to that," Maryk said, "that Ensign Harding saw the mess boys eat the strawberries, and told Queeg so. Even when confronted by the truth, Queeg couldn't handle it."

Neuhow closed his file and put it away. "Maybe we'd better talk about strawberries," he said as he searched for other documents in his cases. He silently pulled one file, then another, then another. When he sat down, he set more than a dozen files next to his chair.

Keith pointed to the stack of files. "All of those for strawberries?" he asked.

"Strawberries," Neuhow confirmed.


	13. What Happened to the Strawberries

13\. What Happened to the Strawberries

Neuhow cleared his throat. "Before we talk about strawberries, gentlemen, let me explain something to you. I do not intend to refer to the mess stewards as 'mess boys.' I know that is what you called them while on the _Caine_. But I intend to use the more respectful title of 'steward's mate' or 'mess steward.'"

Maryk was puzzled by the choice of terminology. "O-o-kay," he drawled.

Keith was less puzzled by the terminology. "Steve, maybe you didn't know. In one of the _Caine_ 's last days, while I was her captain, she was hit by a Japanese kamikaze. Whitaker and the others were the first ones to get a hose and start to get the fire under control. They all suffered burns doing what they did, but their quick thinking and quick actions saved lives and may have even saved the ship."

Maryk listened, open-mouthed. He hadn't heard.

"The _Caine_ was without mess stewards for a while," Keith continued, "as the guys recovered from their burns. But the other men chipped in to help out with kitchen duty, with no complaint. And every man aboard the _Caine_ personally thanked the mess stewards for their initiative and their bravery. No one aboard the _Caine_ ever used the term 'mess boy' ever again."

"Mess _stewards_ , then," Mayrk said with conviction.

Neuhow pulled up a file. "Now, as you know, when the captain ordered the strawberry investigation, the mess stewards were questioned."

"They were," Maryk acknowledged. "I questioned them myself. They denied eating any of the strawberries, except for the servings that Willie had granted them."

"Did they?" Neuhow asked. "Let me read you what Whitaker told me."

* * *

 **Whitaker**

Mr. Maryk was pretty sure that we had eaten the strawberries; at least, his questions seemed to say that was what he thought. But we all denied it. All we admitted to was finding the can nearly empty finishing off the little bit that was left.

Mr. Harding saw us finishing off that little bit. It was no more than one spoonful for each of us, nothing more. We had told Mr. Harding we'd found a mostly empty can, but he wouldn't listen. He went off and told Mr. Maryk, I supposed, and that's why Mr. Maryk came down hard on us.

* * *

"Whitaker is wrong about that," Maryk interrupted. "Harding didn't tell me anything until he was getting ready to go home to his wife. I grilled the mess stewards pretty hard because they were the most likely culprits."

"Whitaker said that he told you that he ate only a little bit," Neuhow said. "Was he right about that?"

"Yes, that's what he said. I was wrong to say that they denied eating _any_ strawberries."

"In other words, about a quart of strawberries was missing; and the mess stewards did admit taking a few spoonfuls, but nothing close to a quart?"

"Now that I think about it, Whitaker is right. He did say that they each had a spoonful, but that they didn't know who ate the rest. But Harding told us later that the mess stewards were lying."

Neuhow looked for another file. "Harding," he said, and he began to read.

* * *

 **Harding**

I saw them with the can and spoons, getting the last few strawberries that were there. I didn't see them eat a quart of strawberries, that's true. But I did see them finish off the can, and I saw big smiles on their faces, and it seemed reasonable to conclude that they had more than just a few spoonfuls. When the captain showed us that a quart of strawberries was missing, it seemed to me to stand to reason that they had dined on the missing quart of strawberries.

* * *

"So," Maryk spoke slowly, "Harding didn't really see the stewards eat a quart of strawberries? And the stewards themselves continue to deny doing such a thing?"

"Yes, exactly."

"What did Queeg say about his meeting with Harding?"

Neuhow sighed. "He said pretty much what he said at trial. He remembered talking to Harding and that most of the conversation dealt with Harding's wife. He had no clear recollection about whether strawberries were mentioned then or not."

"Harding told us that Queeg threatened him. Did you ask Queeg about that?"

"Yes, I did." Neuhow looked through his notes until he found what he wss looking for.

* * *

 **Queeg**

Harding wanted to go back to California to see his wife, who was ill. He was pretty vague on the subject of what her illness was, and he was unhappy about having to explain. I told him his absence was going to leave me short-handed, and he was unhappy about me saying that. I found Harding's attitude to be disrespectful, almost insubordinant. So we were both very unhappy.

What I'm saying is that our talk was not a pleasant one. In the end, I gave him leave to be with his wife, but I made it clear to him that he had to be careful with his choices of words.

I admit I was not pleased with the prospect of Harding coming to testify at trial. While I was on the stand, it became clear to me that many witnesses had already testified that I was mentally unfit. The last thing I needed was one of my officers, who was already angry at me, coming to testify about how I was a monster who tried to keep him from the side of his wife in her time of need.

* * *

Neuhow got some different notes. "I spoke with Harding about this subject before talking with Queeg."

* * *

 **Harding**

I knew I might be called to testify. Steve's lawyer had talked to me and said he'd have me summoned, which would mean that I would have an official reason to travel and the Navy would fly me up to San Francisco, he said.

I wasn't aware that Queeg was afraid of my testimony. But if he was, I'd say he was right to be scared. What he said to me and what he almost did to me were, for lack of a better word, indecent.

I'll tell you what I told Steve's lawyer. I got word that my wife was very ill. I was told it was "woman trouble" but not much more than that. I was told it was serious. In my mind, that meant she might die.

So I went to see the captain. He was in a foul mood to begin with. I told him my wife was very ill and that I wanted leave to go be with her. I showed him the message I'd gotten. The captain asked what was wrong with her, and when I said I didn't really know, he started acting like I was just making it up. I couldn't believe it; there was no expression of sympathy. I told him it was serious, and he said 'Yes, I'm sure it is,' in a tone meaning he didn't believe me.

Then he testily told me that there were a lot of things to do on the ship and that I'd be leaving him short-handed. He was griping about all the things that needed to get done, and how we'd fallen behind in getting them done. And I responded by saying something I probably shouldn't have, but I was flustered. I said something like, 'Sir, the only reason we're behind is because we wasted all this time trying to figure out who took the strawberries. Well, the mess boys ate the strawberries, I saw them!"

Queeg really got hot, then. He went face-to-face with me and demanded to know whether I saw them eat a whole quart, and when I told him I hadn't seen them eat that much, he snarled that I was a liar. He even accused me of faking the message and lying about my wife being sick. And he accused me of lying about other things. I was struggling to maintain my composure. I was also wondering how I could possibly explain to my wife that the captain wouldn't grant me leave to be with her.

Eventually, Queeg calmed down enough to approve my request, but he gave it to me with a warning, that he would reverse himself if he heard me spreading any lies.

* * *

"I've got something to say," Maryk interjected, and Neuhow reached for his pencil. "Whether Queeg remembers Harding telling him so or not, Queeg knew that the mess stewards were the main suspects. And the mess stewards knew they were the main suspects, too. At one point, Whitaker asked me about this. He asked me, 'Is the captain going to take any action against us?' I told him that I didn't think so, and that it seemed to me that the captain believed their denial."

Neuhow pulled some notes. "Here's what the captain had to say."

* * *

 **Queeg**

Maryk wanted to blame the stewards for taking the strawberries. That was obvious from the start. He never even considered the possibility that it might be somebody else.

Now, I have to say that when they [the mess stewards] denied doing it, I believed them. Maybe Maryk didn't believe them because they were colored rather than white men...

* * *

"Not so!" Maryk exploded. "Color had nothing to do with it!"

Neuhow made a note, then said, "I think I'd better read the rest of the sentence."

* * *

 **Queeg**

Maybe Maryk didn't believe them because they were colored rather than white men; although I have to say that wouldn't be like Steve. I suppose I just don't know why Maryk believed them to be dishonest. All I know is that the men who served food to the officers seemed to me to be fine men. I've known men like them in my whole life, of all colors. They are hard workers who want to do their jobs well. The fact that a man's job is menial does not mean he is dishonest, in my book. They denied the theft, and I believed their denial was sincere.

But if it wasn't them, it had to be somebody else.

And if it was somebody else, whoever it was couldn't use the wardroom key, and he couldn't use the captain's key. So he must have somehow made a duplicate key.

I dare anyone to tell me what's wrong with that logic.

* * *

"I don't get it, Mark," Keith interjected. "Are you saying that the mess stewards _didn't_ eat the strawberries?"

Neuhow sat still for a while, then nodded. "Yes, I am. Except for a few spoonfuls. The evidence suggests that the mess stewards found the mostly empty can, sitting on a table outside the icebox. They scraped out what they could, then set the can aside. They expected that Animal was going to collect that can later to weigh down the ship's garbage. They had no idea who had taken the can from the icebox and finished off the strawberries. There was one other thing that Whitaker said that was of interest."

* * *

 **Whitaker**

The strawberries weren't the first time we had had some question about someone raiding the icebox. On one or two other occasions, we thought that someone might have stolen some cheese from the icebox. We couldn't be sure, though. When the officers asked us about the missing strawberries, we didn't mention this, because the questions the officers asked us showed that they thought we took the strawberries; and if we mentioned other missing food, we thought we'd be blamed for that, too.

* * *

Maryk scratched his head. "I had no idea that there had been concern about pilfering of food, prior to the strawberry incident."

Keith was puzzled. "If it wasn't the mess stewards, who did eat the strawberries?"

Neuhow took a deep breath. "When the captain called you all into the wardroom to explain why he thought there had been a theft of foodstuffs, he counted all the portions of strawberries that had been served, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did," Maryk nodded. "And he showed that this many portions would not exhaust the contents of the can. Everybody had two servings, except for the mess stewards, who had one each." Maryk paused for a moment. "No, that's not right. The captain had more than two servings. He had _four_. And someone else had _three_. Tom. Tom Keefer had three servings."

Keith noticed that Neuhow was not taking notes, suggesting that Neuhow already knew that Keefer had more servings of strawberries than anyone else, except the captain. Keith's eyes went wide. "Mark! You're not saying, are you, that Tom Keefer ate the strawberries?"

Neuhow deadpanned, "Three helpings. Tom sure liked strawberries, didn't he?"

Maryk was skeptical. "So Tom liked strawberries. That doesn't make him the strawberry thief, does it?"

Neuhow pulled up a file. "Steve, I'm going to read something you told me yesterday, so that Willie can hear it."

* * *

 **Maryk**

Tom must have told me half a dozen times that the key hunt showed that the captain was crazy. When the captain said that there had to be a duplicate key, and that we would all be searching for it, Tom scoffed and asked the captain why the thief wouldn't simply throw the key overboard. Queeg said something like, 'He wouldn't do that, after going to all the trouble to make it. He may try to hide it, but we'll find it.'

Tom thought Queeg was simply trying to re-live an incident on one of his previous ships, in which he found who had been pilfering food. I have to say that I thought Tom had a pretty good point there.

Throughout the investigation, Tom was grousing about what a waste of time the whole thing was. I thought he had a pretty good point there, too.

At one point, I asked Tom, 'Who did eat the strawberries?' Tom said, 'Does it matter? Is it worth turning a whole ship upside-down? Would anyone but a crazy man do it?' And I thought that was a pretty good point, too.

The kicker was when Harding said good-bye to us before leaving the _Caine_. He told us the mess boys ate the strawberries. Tom was nearly gleeful. 'How do you know?' he asked Harding, and Harding said he saw them eat the strawberries.

* * *

"Let me add something," Maryk said, as Neuhow reached hastily for a pencil. "When Harding said he knew the mess stewards were to blame, I felt like I'd been punched in the guts. We had spent hours and hours on searching, stripping the men down, testing every key, all of it for nothing. And Tom acted like he was going to say 'I told you so,' even though he never said those words. It was up to me to prepare the final report for Queeg, outlining every step that had been done and every single thing that had been learned. When I presented that report to the captain, I fully expected him to chew my tail. But all he did was glance at my report, make a few disgusted grunts, then tell me I was dismissed."

"Did Queeg ever talk to you again about strawberries, Steve?" Neuhow asked.

"No. My report did identify the mess stewards as the likely culprits, but did not formally accuse them; and the the captain did not discipline them in any way."

"Wait a minute," Keith interjected. "How do you know it was _Tom_ who ate the strawberries? All right, he mocked the investigation and he was happy that no one ever got blamed, and he liked strawberries, but I don't see how that makes for much of a case."

Maryk suddenly had a realization. "Mark, did you _talk_ to Tom Keefer? Did he _admit_ to you that he was the one that stole the strawberries?"

Neuhow pulled a thin file from the stack and put it on his lap. "I tried to talk to Tom Keefer. He met with me, briefly, but didn't really want to talk to me."


	14. The Reluctance of Tom Keefer

14\. The Reluctance of Tom Keefer

Neuhow opened a thin file. Maryk could see a few documents clipped inside, along with some photographs and and envelope, but only a few pages of written notes.

"I went to see Tom Keefer two months ago," Neuhow began. "I told him who I was and what I wanted to do. I gave him a copy of my book, showed him the foreword by Admiral Nimitz. Tom was polite to me and invited me into his home and made me some coffee; but said he wasn't all that interested in being interviewed about the _Caine_. He was more interested in hearing about my experiences as an author. I pitched him the two-stage thing, like I did to both of you, and he was unimpressed. I told him he was an important figure in the story, and he said something like, 'Yeah, every good story needs a villain, doesn't it?' I told him, 'I don't want to write about any villains, or any heroes, either; I just want to write about what happened.' He said, 'Did you speak to Barney Greenwald?" I said I had, and he promptly said, 'I don't need to hear any more. I'm not interested.'"

Maryk understood. "Barney made Tom out to be the villain, all right. Barney even accused him in front of the other officers. Threw a drink in his face."

"I know," Neuhow replied. "I heard all about what happened at the after-verdict party. Anyway, I tried to convince Tom to reconsider. I told him that Barney mentioned him only in connection with his presence at the initial meeting with Steve and Willie, But Tom wasn't moved. I even read to Tom what the court thought of his testimony. Here is what I read to him." Neuhow found some notes and began to read.

* * *

 **Anonymous Member of the Court**

Tom Keefer? I don't really remember him. Was he one of the _Caine_ officers? Oh, yes. He was the one who told Maryk that the captain wasn't right in the head, then told Maryk just before they were to talk to the admiral that relieving the captain would be mutiny. Yes, I remember him. I didn't give his story a whole lot of weight, and I don't think anyone else did, either. His testimony was pretty clearly intended to protect his own ass. When it came time for us to reach a decision in the case, I don't think his testimony even came up as a subject for discussion.

* * *

"Tom said he thought those remarks were interesting," Neuhow continued, "but he was still convinced that all I would do would be to try to blame him for the whole debacle, just like Barney did. At one point, he said, 'I'll bet you've talked to Steve Maryk and Willie Keith, too.' When I told him that I hadn't, he seemed surprised. For a moment there, I thought he might actually change his mind and decide to talk to me."

"Did you ask Tom about the _strawberries_?" Keith pressed.

"I tried to. I tried to explain to him that the strawberry incident had nothing to do with the typhoon, and that I had heard inconsistent stories about strawberries, and so on. I told him that he could help me clear up a few things. Tom said he didn't want to talk about strawberries."

"So Tom _didn't_ admit being the thief?"

Neuhow sighed. "Willie, there's no easy way for me to answer that. I kept trying to convince him to talk to me about _anything_. He finally agreed to talk with me when I asked him about Captain De Vriess. He didn't give me much, but he gave me something." Neuhow read aloud from his notes.

* * *

 **Keefer**

De Vriess was, more than anything, a practical man. He liked it if the job got done. He didn't care if the men's shirttails hung out, he didn't care if I spent my off-duty time writing a novel, he didn't care that the _Caine_ had the appearance of being something less than a Navy ship. He cared only that the job got done. The men understood that, too. They knew they could be a little less-than-regulation, as long as they did what was expected of them when it counted.

* * *

Neuhow stopped reading. "I asked Tom whether I was right to conclude that Queeg felt differently about Tom's novel-writing activities. Tom replied with some bitterness that Queeg had ordered him to suspend his writing, but he left it at that. When I asked Tom whether he'd kept in touch with any of his shipmates from the _Caine_ , Tom said no, he hadn't. Then he volunteered this."

* * *

 **Keefer**

You can write this down.

I doubt very much that Steve Maryk still considers me to be his friend. He probably thinks I betrayed him at the trial. I don't agree, but I can see how it would appear that way from his point of view. If you talk to Steve, tell him... tell him that I will always consider him to be a man of great courage, and I can think of no higher compliment than that.

* * *

Neuhow looked Maryk in the eye. "I promised Tom that I would do so, and I have now just done so. Anyway, by this time, I had finished my coffee, and I thought Tom was going to ask me to leave. So I asked him if he still had his uniform from the _Caine_. Tom said he did."

"Why'd you ask him that?"

"Because I wanted to check something. I told Tom that I'd spoken to Paynter and Harding and Rabbit, and they had all gotten rid of their uniforms or put them in storage, and I wondered whether I could see an actual uniform from the _Caine_. Tom took me upstairs and showed me his uniforms. He'd kept them all. He explained that he kept them so that any stories he wrote about the Navy would describe the uniforms accurately. I noticed he had kept not only his shirts and trousers and caps, but his shoes also. I told Tom that my interest was the same as his, that I wanted to be accurate in my descriptions. And while we were looking over the uniforms, something very fortuitous happened. Tom's telephone rang."

"That was fortuitous?" Maryk asked.

"It certainly was. Before I explain why it was fortuitous, let me tell you what happened next. Tom returned about ten minutes after the phone rang, told me that he had to go to an important meeting with his publisher, and he showed me the door. I offered to call on him again later so we could talk some more, and he told me not to bother. I invited him to contact me if he decided to change his mind, and he said 'Don't hold your breath,' or something like that. Then he directed me out of his house and shut the front door. I haven't talked to him since. So unfortunately, I never got the chance to show him what I'm about to show you."


	15. The Man Who Suspected the Truth

15\. The Man Who Suspected the Truth

Neuhow pulled some documents from his file folder. They were photographs, but Maryk and Keith could not see what was depicted in those photographs.

"I should tell you," Neuhow said, "that my my work on this book has taken me from the West Coast to the East Coast, and for the most part, I moved from west to east. But there was one notable diversion in my direction. I spent about a week in Hawaii. Now, that sounds a lot more enjoyable than it was. For one thing, it rained almost every day I was there. But I did find some interesting things. I found the _Caine_ , for one thing. At least, they told me it was the _Caine_. You wouldn't have recognized her, she was in the process of being scrapped and there wasn't much left to her. And I found some records kept by the US Navy, related to the _Caine_. And I found Johnny Lu. Do either of you know that name? Johnny Lu?"

Maryk and Keith shook their heads. Neuhow handed Maryk a photograph. Keith leaned over to see.

Maryk identified what was in the photograph. "This is a picture of a report that Tom and I did for Captain De Vriess, dealing with a problem with various items to be repaired or replaced while we were in Pearl."

"It has your signature on it, Steve. And that other signature is Tom Keefer's isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Tom's signature is pretty distinctive."

"One of the things you wanted to replace was the wardroom icebox," Neuhow pointed out.

"That's right. The one we had was a worthless hunk of junk."

"And did you replace the wardroom icebox?"

"Yes, we did. The replacement wasn't great, but it worked."

"This new icebox needed new keys, didn't it?" Neuhow wondered innocently.

Maryk saw where this was going. "Yeah. This one did. None of our padlocks would work, but the icebox came with a special padlock that would. Are you saying Tom had a spare key made for the new icebox?"

"The records I've seen say that lock came with only one key, and that it was Tom's job to have a duplicate made. He went to Johnny Lu because Johnny had the right kind of key blanks." Neuhow handed Maryk another photograph. The photograph showed two documents. One was an official Navy requisition for keys to be copied, including a key to a padlock for a wardroom icebox. The other was an official invoice for the work from the "Lucky Lu Key" store of Honolulu. The invoice bore the distinctive signature of Tom Keefer, to attest that the billed-for services were indeed provided.

Maryk looked carefully at the documents. "This just shows that Tom had the correct number of duplicates made that he was supposed to make. One original key for the wardroom, one duplicate for the captain or exec. It doesn't show that Tom made an extra icebox key for himself."

"You're right, that document doesn't show that Tom Keefer made an extra icebox key for himself." Neuhow handed another photograph to Maryk. "But have a look at this."

Maryk's jaw dropped. There it was, a separate invoice to Tom Keefer for an additional key being copied, using the same kind of key blank. This invoice was not one that was to go to the Navy for payment. It was marked as having been paid in cash. It bore the same date as the Navy invoice, and its serial number was the next in sequence.

And there was Tom Keefer's distinctive signature, to acknowledge receipt of the finished product.

As Maryk and Keith looked at the photograph with amazement, Neuhow calmly laid something on top of the photograph.

It was a single key, of the kind that would fit a padlock to a wardroom icebox. Maryk and Keith were momentarily speechless.

"Yes," Neuhow confirmed, "that is Tom Keefer's duplicate key to the wardroom icebox. It was still in his uniform. In one of his shoes, actually."

Maryk eventually spoke. "I think I'm going to be ill. You mean Queeg was right all along? There _was_ a duplicate key?"

"Yes."

"And it was held by an officer, not by one of the men?"

"Yes. An officer who thoroughly searched others, but who was not himself thoroughly searched."

"I never suspected," Maryk choked.

"Neither did I," Keith added.

"There was someone who did suspect, but too late," Neuhow said, opening the trial transcript.

* * *

 **Testimony of Lt. Commander Phillip F. Queeg**

A: Ah, but the strawberries, that's— that's where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes. But I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with geometric logic that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox did exist, and I'd have produced that key if they hadn't have pulled the Caine out of action. I— I— I know now they were only trying to protect some fellow officer.

* * *

Maryk and Keith sat silent for several moments. Neuhow let them be.

Keith broke the silence. "I feel awful."

"Who else knows about this?" Maryk wondered glumly. "Harding? Queeg?"

"Just the two of you, so far. When the book comes out, everyone will know. But I have to be careful. I didn't come by that key honestly. I kind of stole it while Tom was distracted. I had started to suspect Tom Keefer might be the strawberry thief when the other officers mentioned that he was far from enthusiastic about the hunt for the key, and that he was very relieved the investigation came to a halt. It was a long shot, but I wondered, if Tom still had his uniforms, might he still have the key? He did, under the lining of one of his shoes. Tom doesn't know that I have it, at least, I don't think he knows. I'm going to have to figure out a way to return it to him."

Keith jutted out his jaw. "Let me do it. Just tell me where he lives, and I'll go up and knock on his door and toss that key in his face and demand that he explain why we had to go through hell so that he could enjoy some pilfered strawberries."

Maryk found himself laughing. "That wouldn't do any good, Willie. You know, I was just thinking: in a way, Tom saved our necks."

Keith shook his head. "I don't see how that could be, Steve. You said he stabbed you in the back in that courtroom, and damn near put our necks into the nooses."

"Yeah, he did. But think about this for a second: if what the court told Mark is right, the strawberry thing was a _big_ point in our favor, because it indicated that the captain was screwy. The members of the court thought that Queeg's hunt for a key was _nuts_ , and that helped our case. But suppose Tom had been asked about the strawberry business and he testified, 'No, the captain was right, he wasn't crazy, there _really was_ a duplicate key.' Queeg's standing would have gone up in the eyes of the court, and ours would have gone down. You and I might have ended up swinging from a yardarm."

Neuhow scribbled some notes. "That never occurred to me, that Tom Keefer could have made things a lot worse for you than he actually did."


	16. Epilogue: The Good Guy

16\. Epilogue: The Good Guy

Neuhow, Maryk and Keith lost track of time. Neuhow telephoned for dinner from room service at 9:45 at night, just fifteen minutes before the kitchen closed. Neuhow put all of his documents back into his cases while the men waited for room service. The food arrived shortly after 10:00. The men agreed that the food was excellent.

Over the meal, Neuhow talked with Maryk and Keith about contacting them by telephone to discuss other details, if the need came up. He also said that he intended to try to talk to Tom Keefer once more, though he had little expectation that Tom would want to help.

"Tom thinks he's going to be the bad guy in the story, doesn't he?" Maryk mused. "Not only did he manipulate Willie and me into risking our necks, he appears to have been the strawberry thief. But unless I miss my guess, Tom wouldn't be the only guy who looks bad. Willie and I aren't going to come off looking too good, either. We were wrong and Queeg was right about the duplicate key; and Queeg may have been right about the tow cables as well; and we should have obeyed his orders during the typhoon as to ship's heading. But Queeg spectacularly fouled up at Kwajalein, and ruined morale on the _Caine_ , so he's not going to come off as all that bright and shining, either. Jesus, Mary and Joseph: is _anybody_ in the story going to be the good guy?"

"What you just said, Steve," Neuhow said, "is of little concern to me. My charge was to find out the facts, to tell the story, and to tell it right. I will do that. Doing that will show a lot of imperfect people. But it will also show how the United States Navy deals with some very complicated human issues in a time of war. I plan to include a very simple dedication in my work: 'To the United States Navy.'"


End file.
